Sam's Fish Tale
by Supervillegirl
Summary: "Mermaids?" asked Dean skeptically. Sam finds himself royally screwed when they tackle a school of mermaids.
1. Chapter 1

Sam's Fish Tale

Chapter One

**Now, I didn't want to use the song from Pirates 4, but it was better than anything I could find, and you guys already know how that song goes, anyway. So, whatever. Enjoy!**

Sam Winchester clicked on the internet link, ready for information on Lillith.

Sam and his brother Dean had been on the Lillith hunt since Monument, Colorado, and the "station explosion" that killed Henrickson and two others. Sam couldn't really explain it, but he just had a feeling that Lillith was connected to Dean and his deal. I mean, Lillith shows up with a hate-on for Sam and an extreme interest in **both** of them? That can't be coincidence. Of course, he hadn't shared any of that with Dean. Dean was perfectly satisfied with hunting down Lillith on the principle of revenge alone.

Sam cocked his head to the side as he read the news article. "Huh…"

On one of the beds, Dean looked up from his hot rod magazine in interest. "What?"

"A man in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was found floating off shore in the ocean, reported as a drowning," said Sam.

Dean shrugged. "That's not so unusual."

"It is when there was no fluid in his lungs," Sam told him.

"Sounds like someone dumped him in the ocean," Dean said. "Why's that our problem?"

"Because he has suspicious bruises and contusions around his torso," said Sam, looking at morgue photos. "It looks like something was wrapped around him and squeezed him to death."

"Squeezed him to death?" asked Dean, finally intrigued and abandoning his magazine to join Sam at the table. "What could do that?"

"I'm not sure," speculated Sam. "But they found scales on him."

"Scales?" asked Dean. "What, like, an alligator?"

"Alligators don't live in the oceans," Sam told him. "Forensics have run the scales through an analyzer and can't find a match to any marine life in existence."

Dean's eyebrows rose, interested. "Really?"

"And…" Sam began as he pulled their father's leather-bound journal out from under a pile of lore books behind his laptop, "Dad earmarked the same county as a possible nest of—get this—mermaids."

"Mermaids?" said Dean. "Oh, come on—" He left the table and headed towards the bed.

"Well, I did say **possible**," Sam pointed out. He flipped the journal open and found the page he wanted. "Dad cited several sightings in the area, and even a couple first-hand accounts in the tabloids of encounters with them."

Dean turned back towards Sam. "But where's the proof? I mean, mermaids? That's right up there with unicorns and Bigfoot; they don't exist."

"Well, a man killed in the ocean but not drowned, covered in unidentified fish scales?" said Sam. "What do you suggest? Nessie?"

Dean sat down on the bed. "Fine. See if there's any lore."

Sam stared at him. "You even gonna help me?"

Dean picked up his hot rod magazine. "Hell no." He smirked at Sam and flipped open the magazine.

Sam rolled his eyes and began searching for merfolk lore.

*************************************************SPN*****************************************************

"Holy crap," Sam muttered as he closed his laptop, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"What?" asked Dean as he put his magazine down.

"It's like looking up lore on zombies," said Sam, leaning back in his chair. "There's just too much."

Dean got up and headed over to the table. "What'd you find out?" He sat down next to Sam.

"Mermaids are known as squant by the Native Americans," Sam began, "Menanna in Ottowa, Ne Hwas in Passamaquay. The Brazilians called them Lara, Uira or Yara, which means 'water lady' or 'Water Queen.' They're known as Aycayia in the Caribbean, which means 'she with a lovely voice.' And Mami Wata in Africa: 'Mammy Water.'

"Merfolk lore goes back to the time of the Greeks. The story goes that a Semetic moon goddess named Atargatis killed her lover and retreated to the sea in shame to live as a fish. However, the sea couldn't hold her beauty, so she retained the upper body of a human. Thus, the first mermaid was born. She must have been the mother of the entire race.

"Turns out, they're considered part of fairie lore. There are water fairies called nymphs, selkies—which can turn from seal to human—and mermaids. They squeeze the life out of drowning men and drag humans down to their underwater kingdoms.

"According to lore, they have many supernatural abilities, the most famous of which is their voice. It's where the whole 'siren song' myth came from. Merfolk can entice humans with their voice, luring them to their murky depths. They're also known to possess super strength, which is how they squeeze the life out of people. But that myth about them changing into human form at the full moon? That's not true. They can take human form whenever they want."

"Well, if they have so many powers, what can kill them?" asked Dean.

"Well, they have a few weaknesses," said Sam. "They can't be out of the water too long. And, being fairie, they are repelled by iron. However, unlike fairies, they can't be around salt. You know, salt drying out fish and all. Most of the lore leans toward killing merfolk with an iron dagger, coated in salt, to the heart."

Dean shrugged. "Works for me. Pack your crap."

*******************************************SPN*************************************************

"So, where do we find 'em?" asked Dean, dipping the adhesive-covered iron knife in salt.

"Well, they're pretty secretive," said Sam. "They tend to shy away from humans. But, this is the second mysterious drowning this month. Both of the vics were last seen down at Pier 15."

"Alright," said Dean. He pulled the knife out and stuck it in his jacket. "Let's go."

They jumped into the Impala, driving down to the pier. Dean parked, and they got out, stepping up to the pier railing.

"So, what are we looking for?" asked Dean.

"I'm guessing a mermaid," Sam said.

Dean looked at Sam with a sarcastic little chuckle. He rolled his eyes and looked down at the water, waiting for something to happen.

They waited for a while, beginning to wonder why they were just sitting there.

"_Hmmm-hm, hmm-hmmm…"_

"Wait," said Sam, putting a hand on Dean's arm. "You hear that?"

"What?" asked Dean, looking at him.

"_Hm, hmm-hmmm, hmmmm…"_

"Wait, now I hear it," said Dean, also looking around.

"It's beautiful," said Sam breathily.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Sam, beautiful."

Sam glanced down at a rock outcropping at the shore. He spotted a woman staring at him. She was **so **beautiful. Flowing blonde hair and vibrant green eyes and glowing skin…

Sam left the railing quickly, heading down the pier.

"Sam?" asked Dean, following him.

Sam moved rapidly, heading down to the shore, drawn by that enticing voice.

"Sam!" said Dean, running after him.

Dean came to a stop as he spotted the woman also. She was leaning her elbows on the rocks, flinging her long hair over her shoulder. Shiny, luminescent lavender scales were scattered across her neck and hands. She was bare at her torso with more lavender scales covering her breasts. Behind her, a long, lavender-scaled tail rose from the water, shining in the moonlight before disappearing again.

"Oh, wow…" breathed Dean, entranced by her.

The mermaid was staring lovingly at Sam. She opened her mouth and began to sing.

"_Come, all you pretty fair maids…" _the mermaid sang, her voice so haunting and angelic, _"whoever you may be…who love a jolly sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea…"_

Sam stared at the mermaid in fascination. She was like nothing he had ever seen. He started moving towards her, his feet drawn to her like magnets. Dean stared at the beautiful creature singing to his brother. He could sense that something was wrong, but he only had eyes for the mermaid.

"_My heart is pierced by cupid…"_ the mermaid sang, beckoning Sam closer with a long, slender finger.

Sam smiled as he stepped closer, stumbling a little over the rocks.

"_I disdain all glittering gold…"_

Sam dropped to his knees in front of the mermaid, who reached out and caressed the sides of his face.

"_There is nothing that can console me, but my jolly sailor bold…"_

The mermaid brought her face forward as Sam leaned down towards her. The mermaid leaned her head up towards him, framing her hands on both sides of his face. As they drew closer together, the mermaid suddenly grabbed Sam by the head and pulled him down to the water.

The spell broken, Dean jumped forward. "SAM!"

The mermaid brought her tail up and wrapped it around Sam's torso.

"Ah!" Sam yelled, fighting against her fatal hold.

"SAM!" Dean cried out, pulling the salt-coated iron dagger out of his jacket.

The mermaid pulled her tail tight around Sam's chest, squeezing him to death as she held onto his neck with her hands. Dean jumped forward as the mermaid began to drag Sam to the water.

"No!" Dean yelled, plunging the knife down towards her tail.

The iron sliced into her tail, and she let out a screech as smoke curled from the knife. Dean pounced on her, grabbing at her arms to free Sam. But, just like Sam told him, mermaids really **did **have super strength. She would not let go. Her fingernails were digging into Sam's neck, causing him to start bleeding. Dean began punching her as he also pulled at her arms and tail.

"Let him go, you bitch!" Dean yelled.

His punches finally dazed her enough that Dean was able to pull the iron knife out of her tail. Dean could not get to her heart from the front; she had Sam pinned to her chest. Dean flipped the two of them over and plunged the dagger into her chest, shoving it hard enough that it reached her heart.

The mermaid arched back as smoke curled out of her wound. She screamed as she still held onto Sam. Her skin dried up and turned white as tears fell down her face. She collapsed onto Sam, dead.

Neither one of them noticed when a shiny tear fell from her face and down into the cuts on Sam's neck, glowing slightly when it mixed with his blood.

"Sam!" Dean called, pulling the mermaid's body off of Sam and uncurling her tail from around him. "Sam!"

Sam groaned as he grabbed at his abused chest.

"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Say something!"

"Ugh…" Sam moaned. "Why are the freaks always interested in **me**?"

Dean laughed in relief. "Must be your raw animal magnetism."

"Shut up," Sam muttered.

"Come on," said Dean, pulling Sam to his feet. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Okay," said Sam.

Dean led the way to the car, and Sam followed him. Sam frowned, suddenly wondering why the ache in his chest and throat had diminished over the past minute or why the night looked so much brighter than it did earlier.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Alright, come on, I'll disinfect you," said Dean.

Sam followed him to the bathroom counter, where Dean had set up the first aid kit. Dean tilted Sam's head back, raising an alcohol wipe up. He froze.

"Huh…" said Dean.

"What?" asked Sam.

"It looked worse in the dark, I guess," said Dean. "You're not bleeding." He threw the alcohol wipe away and let go of Sam.

Sam frowned. "I'm not?" He raised his head a little to look in the mirror.

"Nope," said Dean. "Just scratched."

Sam saw the places where the cuts had been…it was just red scratches now. He was so sure he'd been bleeding earlier.

"Huh…" said Sam, lowering his hands. "That's weird…"

"How's your chest?" asked Dean.

"It feels sore, but the ache is already gone," said Sam.

"Good," said Dean. "I'm beat. You need anything?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"See you in the morning," Dean told him, heading to bed.

"See ya," said Sam.

Suddenly very thirsty, Sam turned on the faucet, filling a small cup of water and gulping it down. Sam drank through ten cups before he realized what he was doing. Frowning, Sam put the cup down and headed to sleep.

***********************************************************SPN*******************************************

"So, we got a beat on Lillith, or what?" asked Dean.

"What?" asked Sam, looking up from the laptop.

Dean frowned at Sam's distant eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Sam.

In fact, he was more than fine. Sam woke up to find the bruises on his neck and chest were completely gone. Sam had been pondering how he could have healed so fast. He was also worried about how much water he had been drinking lately. He had been woken up in the middle of the night by a sore, dry throat…fifteen times. And he'd drunk five glasses of water this morning already…and he had only been up for two hours. Funny thing was, he'd only had to relieve himself once so far.

"Well, we got anything on Lillith?" asked Dean.

Sam huffed in annoyance. "You know, you could help with the research."

"Nah, that's your department," said Dean. "My job is to kick ass and look pretty." He smirked.

"Well—big surprise—Lillith is turning out to be not as easy to track down," Sam snapped frustratingly at him. "So, just get over here and help out."

Dean leaned forward a little, glaring at Sam. "Geez, Sam, I'm the one that's dying here. Would it kill you to be a little sensitive?"

Sam had winced at the word "dying." He looked away from Dean and huffed out a sigh. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," said Dean pointedly. "I mean, come on, I got less than three months left, here, Sam. That hellfire at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. So, yeah, I brought it up. Deal with it."

Dean folded his arms and leaned back on the bed, staring at the TV. Sam rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He went back to his laptop, searching for Lillith clues.

Sam could not believe his brother was acting like that. Even after admitting that he did not want to go to hell and that he wanted to get out of the deal, he still acted so callous about it…like he didn't care after all. It infuriated Sam; Dean's attitude almost always did. Dean was always such a smartass.

After a sulking moment, Sam began absently humming. It was some Bon Jovi song he had heard recently, and he couldn't get it out of his head. He hummed the song softly, keeping his eyes out for anything suspicious.

_Man, I wish Dean would just be nice for once,_ Sam thought as he hummed.

After another moment, Sam heard Dean speak up from the bed.

"Hey, you need some more water, or something?" Dean asked, gesturing to the empty glass on the table in front of Sam.

Sam glanced up at him. "No, I'm good for now, I think."

"Alright," said Dean, shrugging. "Can I get you anything else?"

Sam looked up at him, confused. Dean never took care of Sam; not like this, anyway.

"No…I'm fine," Sam told him.

"Okay, okay," said Dean, nodding. "You sure?"

Sam frowned, looking closer. Dean did not have a sarcastic trait on his face whatsoever; no cocky smirk, no glimmer in his eyes…only the earnest honesty written all over his face. Sam had never seen Dean looking this caring and considerate.

"Are you okay?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" asked Dean with a sincere smile. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Dean, but—" began Sam, starting to worry about Dean.

"But, what?" asked Dean urgently. "What's wrong? What can I do?"

"Nothing," said Sam quickly. "Nothing's wrong…except, maybe, you."

"Me?" asked Dean. "What's wrong with me?"

"That's a good question," said Sam. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" asked Dean.

"You're being so…pleasant, all of a sudden," said Sam.

"What, I can't be nice for once?" asked Dean genuinely.

Sam shook his head before freezing. "Wait, what'd you say?"

"When?" asked Dean, eager to help Sam.

"Just now, when I asked why you're being so pleasant," said Sam.

"That I can't be nice for once?" asked Dean.

Sam froze, thinking back to what he was thinking while he was humming—that he wanted Dean to just be nice for once.

"When did you start thinking you should be nice?" asked Sam.

"Um…well, you were humming Bon Jovi's _It's My Life_—excellent choice in song, by the way—and I just started thinking that I should be nice to you," said Dean. "After all, you **are** my brother…Isn't that how brothers should treat each other?"

Sam stopped breathing just then. The lore he had been reading about mermaids.

_They entice with their song…_ Sam thought. _It can't be…_

Sam looked carefully at Dean and began humming once again. Dean's eyes suddenly became unfocused and glassy. The more Sam hummed, the more Dean seemed to become hypnotized by his voice. Taking another leap, Sam began urgently thinking as he hummed.

_I wish Dean would just go back to normal,_ Sam thought.

He stopped humming and waited for what would happen next.

Dean clenched his eyes shut, shaking his head a little. He opened his eyes, looking down at his magazine. "Whew. Got a little dizzy there."

Sam still stared closely at him, waiting for whatever reaction he would get.

Dean looked at Sam, frowning. "What's wrong with you?"

"I think I should be asking you that question," said Sam carefully, still watching him closely.

"Oh, what, now you gotta head-shrink me?" asked Dean. "I told you, Sam, I'm onboard with the whole 'break the deal' thing. Does that mean I don't get to be upset about it anymore?"

Sam frowned, still staring at him. _What is Dean talking about? Everything that just happened had nothing to do with Dean's deal…_

On the upside, it looked like the spell, or whatever, had broken…maybe.

"Would you blink or something?" asked Dean. "You're starting to creep me out, you weirdo."

Sam finally let out a held breath, relieved. Not only was Dean back to normal, but it looked as though he did not remember what had just happened. Sam looked down at his research, starting to get a little worried.

_I just got Dean to do what I wanted by singing…_ Sam thought. _That's what mermaids do…and needing to drink all that water?_

Sam absently shook his head a little. _No, that's not it…It's my psychic thing acting up…and I'm dehydrated. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the mermaids…_

And that's what Sam went with the rest of the day, as he continued to drink more and more water…until that afternoon.

"Hey, load the weapons, will ya?" Dean asked as he grabbed the duffels and headed out the door.

Sam headed to the empty bag on the floor and hauled it up onto the bed next to the knives and guns spread out on the mattress. He stuffed the shotguns and pistols into the bag and reached for the knives, stuffing them in, too. He grabbed two iron knives left on the mattress.

"Ah!" Sam hissed as he dropped the knives.

His hands were smoking a little from where the iron had touched him.

Sam's eyes widened. _No…it's not true…_

Sam reached tentatively forward and placed his fingers on the iron blade, but he quickly withdrew them as the iron burned his skin.

_What the hell is going on?_ Sam wondered.

"You ready?" asked Dean from the doorway.

Sam jumped a little and looked at Dean. "Yeah…Yeah, just about."

"Alright, let's hit the road," said Dean.

Sam nodded and turned toward the knives, being very careful to grasp only the handles. He stuffed them in the bag and left the room, heading to the Impala. They piled in and started driving, heading west.

Dean finally glanced at Sam about half an hour into the drive. "Hey, there's one thing that doesn't make sense."

Sam looked at him. "What?"

"That whole, 'kill mermaids with salt' thing," said Dean. "Aren't oceans saltwater?"

"Yeah," said Sam, thinking about it. "Maybe…maybe it's because ocean saltwater is so diluted. But salt in its purest form…you know, actual salt…is their weakness. I mean, after all, fish live in saltwater, but if they touch salt, they dry out, right?"

Dean thought about it for a moment, shrugging. "Huh…that kind of makes sense…I guess."

Sam chuckled. "Since when does any supernatural weapon or remedy actually make sense?"

Dean laughed. "That's true."

"Where we headed, anyway?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," said Dean. "Just away from here. I've had it with mermaids."

Sam chuckled. "You've only been here for, like, twenty-four hours."

"Yeah, and I'm already sick of it," muttered Dean.

Sam shook his head, laughing softly. He stopped, frowning. "Does it…I mean, doesn't it seem that we wrapped this hunt up…a little _too_ quickly?"

Dean frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it usually takes us at least a couple days to figure everything out and then track down the monster," Sam told him. "We not only figured the situation out but also tracked down the mermaid and killed her in, like, twelve hours. Does that strike you as strange?"

"Maybe a little," said Dean. "Maybe the universe is finally cutting us a break."

Sam looked down at the floorboards, frowning. _If I'm right about what's happening to me…then we are definitely not getting a break._

They finally stopped at a motel about two hours away from Myrtle Beach. Dean grabbed the remote and flopped down on one of the beds, flipping through channels until he found one of those cop shows that has clips of car chases. Sam grabbed a change of clothes and his shower items and headed for the bathroom. Hanging a towel on the wall next to the shower, Sam undressed and turned the shower on. He pulled the curtain aside and stepped into the water's spray.

"AH!" Sam yelled.

Dean heard Sam's cry and then a bang—a clatter—from the bathroom.

"Sam?" Dean called as he jumped up from the bed, rushing to the bathroom door.

There was silence coming from the room—alarming silence.

"Sam, you okay?" asked Dean. He reached for the door handle. "I'm coming in."

"No!" Sam exclaimed. "Don't come in!"

"Why not?" asked Dean.

"'Cause…I'm not wearing anything," Sam said hesitantly.

"But I heard a pretty bad bang in there," said Dean. "You okay?"

"Yeah," said Sam quickly in a high, squeaky voice. "I'm fine. I'm okay."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Sam, you sound like you been sucking on helium, man. Something is definitely **not **okay."

There was disconcerting silence, so Dean grabbed the doorknob.

"I'm coming in," Dean told Sam.

He opened the door to find Sam sitting in the tub of the shower, the curtain tangled around his waist and legs. Sam's hands were also hidden in the curtain. The water still sprayed down from the showerhead, so Dean turned it off. He couldn't see that anything was broken.

Dean stepped over to the tub, raising his arms in questioning. "So…what? You slipped and broke your leg, arm, fingernail, what?"

Sam winced. "Not exactly."

Dean frowned. "What exactly does 'not exactly' mean?"

"It means I should have stayed home from this hunt," Sam told him.

"What are you talking about?" asked Dean.

Sam glanced down at his legs, which were hidden by the shower curtain. "As soon as I climbed into the water…this happened."

Dean stared at him a moment longer before slowly reaching down and grabbing the curtain, pulling it away from Sam. He stared in shock at Sam's legs as the curtain slipped from his fingers to the floor.

Sam's legs had vanished. What Sam now had from the waist down…was a merman tail.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The corners of Dean's mouth began to twitch upwards as he looked up at Sam's face.

"Don't say it," Sam growled.

"Dude…" said Dean, beginning to smile.

"Don't!" said Sam.

"You have a tail!" laughed Dean.

Sam rolled his eyes, rubbing a hand over his forehead, as Dean laughed out loud.

Dean's laughter tapered off, and he frowned. "Hang on." He grabbed Sam's hand and pulled it down so they could look at it.

Sam's hand was covered sporadically with shiny, light blue scales—just like the mermaid they had killed. He also had scales scattered on his neck of the same color. Sam also had small fins stretching out from his wrists and down towards his elbows. Sam's skin seemed to shine—more like glow—now. About two inches below Sam's navel, his skin changed to the aqua-colored scales of his tail. His tail was aqua near his waist and slowly darkened to royal blue down at the bottom near his feet—or, actually, his tail fin.

"So…you got turned into a mermaid?" asked Dean, letting go of Sam's hand.

"Mer_man_," Sam corrected, looking up at Dean.

Dean shook his head, shrugging. "No, no, I'm going with mermaid."

Sam glared at him. "Very funny. How do we undo it?"

"Undo it?" asked Dean. "Do I look like I know the cure for mermaidism?"

"I meant the transformation," said Sam. "I can't exactly stay like this."

"Well…" muttered Dean, thinking for a moment. He suddenly had an idea. "You said this happened as soon as you got into the shower, right? Just as you touched the water?"

Sam thought for a moment, suddenly realizing what had happened. "Yeah, as soon as the water touched my skin, my legs turned into this tail."

"Well, then, I say we dry you off," said Dean. "Maybe once the water is off of you, the tail will go away."

Sam shrugged. "Works for me. Help me get out." He held up a hand towards his brother.

Dean grasped Sam's hand and bent his knees a little to brace himself. "Ready?"

Sam put his other hand on the lip of the tub. "Yeah."

"Alright, go," said Dean, pulling on Sam's arm.

Together, the two of them managed to get Sam onto the edge of the tub. Dean had to keep his hands braced on Sam's back. He could not keep himself upright with his tail. Usually, he would bend his legs to use as support, but the tail didn't have joints like human legs. It didn't have muscles to stand or walk; it had muscles used for swimming.

"Alright, I'm gonna have to drag you into the other room, okay?" asked Dean.

"Are the blinds closed?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," said Dean. "Why?"

Sam turned his head to glare at Dean. "Do we really want anyone passing by to see this?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'll go take care of it."

Sam grabbed hold of the wall and nodded. "I'm good."

Dean left and headed into the other room.

Sam took the time to assess his new look. He reached a hand down towards his tail, feeling the scales under his palm. They felt so smooth…like water. And the tail really felt weird. He was used to thighs and calves and feet and quadriceps and hamstrings…This tail definitely did not have any of that. It felt like it was just one big muscle…one big **powerful** muscle.

Sam tried to figure out how to control that muscle. He tried it out. The corners of the tail fin twitched. Despite himself, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly into a smile. He tried it again, and the tail curled towards his right.

"Okay, now can we move?" asked Dean as he walked back into the bathroom.

"Yeah," said Sam.

Dean looped his arms under Sam's and pulled. He groaned as Sam slid off the side of the tub and gently fell towards the floor. Sam's tail curled over the tub's lid and into the basin.

"Damn, why do you have to be so heavy?" grunted Dean as he began pulling Sam towards the bathroom door.

"I am _not_ heavy; I'm tall," Sam defended as his tail slid out of the tub and plopped onto the floor with a splash.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," muttered Dean as he dragged Sam out of the bathroom and towards the two beds.

Dean managed to get Sam over to one of the beds, and he pulled with all his strength to get Sam onto the bed. Sam's torso fell onto the mattress next to Dean, and Dean reached down, pulling Sam's tail onto the bed with him. Sam sat up and pulled himself up the bed to lean against the headboard. Dean headed to the bathroom and came back with a couple towels.

"Here, dry off," Dean told him.

Sam grabbed hold of the towels and tried to dry himself off. Unfortunately, the scales were a lot like wet hair: once you get it wet, it has to take time to dry itself out. Looks like he would just have to wait for his tail and skin to dry off.

Dean pulled his phone out and dialed a number.

"Hello?" answered Bobby Singer.

"Hey, Bobby," began Dean, clearing his throat. "Um…what do you know about mermaids?"

"Mermaids?" asked Bobby. "Well, they're located mainly on the Eastern coast, usually around coastal beaches—"

"You mean, you know they exist?" asked Dean.

"Yeah," said Bobby.

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" asked Dean.

"Never really came up," said Bobby. "We never hunted any."

"Well, what would you do…if someone—complete stranger that we don't know—got…turned into one?" asked Dean.

Bobby sighed long and hard. "You or your brother?"

"Well, not me, if that helps at all," said Dean.

"Is he safe?" asked Bobby.

Dean frowned. "What do you mean?"

"There are a lot of bounty hunters out there who would kill to get their hands on a mermaid," Bobby told him. "Mermaid scales are—"

"Hang on, Bobby," said Dean. "Let me put you on speakerphone."

Dean pressed a button on his phone and held it up so Sam could hear also.

After a moment, Bobby continued. "Mermaid scales are used for healing tonics and creams. They also help slow aging. The blood is used to create pills that enhance the senses. And to catch a live mermaid, people will pay a fortune for that. You hear that, Sam?"

"Yeah," said Sam. "So, how do I avoid a bounty hunter? I mean, Phil and Jack are pretty good at what they do."

Phil Greggins and Jack Morris were two bounty hunters who helped deal with supernatural creatures to create potions or tonics. They were the best in their field.

"As long as you don't change in public or anything, you'll be fine," said Bobby.

"By the way, you know anything about mermaids?" asked Dean. "The research Sam dug up didn't exactly seem complete."

"Well…" began Bobby, sighing, "they change whenever they touch water, they sing to entice mortals, they must have water regularly or they'll dry out, their kiss heals—"

"Their what?" asked Dean, looking wide-eyed at Sam.

"Their kiss heals," said Bobby.

Dean's mouth twitched into a smile as he laughed a little.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," muttered Sam. "What else, Bobby?"

"Their tears have magical properties," said Bobby. "Specifically, mermaid tears mixed with a mortal's blood turn that mortal into a mermaid."

"That explains it," said Sam. "She was on top of me when Dean stabbed her. I had cuts on my neck. Her tears must have fallen into them."

"What else, Bobby?" asked Dean.

"They have the power of hydrokinesis," Bobby continued. "They can see and hear exceptionally well. They can sense changes in the water, such as poison or blood. When they're in their fish form, they have super strength and communicate telepathically with other merfolk. Salt and iron are their weaknesses, and I figure you already know how to kill them."

"Salt-coated iron knife to the heart, yeah," Dean nodded.

"Yeah, so keep Sam away from salt and iron," said Bobby. "They'll—"

"Burn the skin, yeah," Sam told him.

Dean frowned at him. "Now, how would you know that?"

"Well, isn't that what it does to most supernatural things?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, but you said it like you…had firsthand experience, or something," said Dean.

Sam shrugged and avoided Dean's eyes. "Well…maybe."

Dean put his hands on his hips. "When?"

"When we were packing this morning," said Sam. "I noticed that the iron knives burned a little."

Dean glared at him. "Oh, you noticed, huh?" He stepped a little closer to Sam. "Is there anything else you _noticed_?"

"Um…maybe," said Sam quietly.

Dean threw his hands up in the air. "And you didn't tell me? Didn't you think something was wrong when this started happening? Like, maybe when the iron **burned**!"

"Yes, obviously," said Sam. "But…I didn't want to believe it."

"Oh, well, then, I guess that makes it okay!" yelled Dean.

"Dean, calm down," said Bobby from the phone.

They had forgotten that he was there.

"Sam, what happened?" asked Bobby.

"Well, my cuts and bruises are completely gone," said Sam. "They healed overnight. And, uh, I've been insanely thirsty the past day," said Sam.

"Yeah, you were," said Dean. "How many glasses did you go through?"

"Last night, or this morning?" asked Sam.

"Not important," said Bobby. "Go on, Sam."

"Uh…well, there was the song incident," said Sam.

Dean frowned. "What song incident?"

"Well, you don't remember, but…" began Sam, wondering how he was going to tell them, "I managed to…hypnotize you."

Dean stepped closer. "You _hypnotized_ me? How?"

"That whole 'their song entices' thing," said Sam. "I started humming, and I was thinking that I wanted you to start being nice for once. The next second, you were being nice."

"I was?" asked Dean. "Why don't I remember that?"

"Because I fixed it," said Sam. "I tried it again, thinking that I wanted you to be yourself again, and it worked. You didn't remember a thing."

Dean frowned, trying to think back over the past day. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, my God! You hypnotized me!"

Sam frowned also. "Yeah, that's what we just said."

"I was trying to be your freaking maid!" Dean yelled.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "You remember?"

"Now I do!" said Dean. "It was like you totally brainwashed me!"

"Hey, it's not my fault," Sam told him.

Dean shook his head. "Yes, it is! Remember? You were the one doing it!"

"I meant that I didn't do it on purpose!" said Sam. "I didn't know I was a merman! Obviously, I didn't know that I could hypnotize you into doing something just by singing!"

They paused, staring at each other. Smiles broke out on their faces, and Sam and Dean began laughing.

Dean finally got his laughter under control. "What happened to our lives, man?"

Sam fought for breath. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"Yeah, well, laugh it up," said Bobby. "Until we figure out a cure, Sam is stuck as fish-boy. You two need to be careful."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, sure thing, Bobby."

"So, that's everything?" asked Sam. "Nothing else about merfolk that we need to know?"

"Well, they're immortal," said Bobby. "That's everything, I think."

"Immortal?" asked Sam. "But they can be killed."

"Yes, you can kill them with that salt-iron dagger thing," said Bobby. "But they never die naturally. They live forever…until someone kills them."

Sam's eyes took on a distant look.

"Okay, thanks, Bobby," said Dean.

"Call me if you boys need anything," said Bobby.

"Yeah, will do," said Dean, hanging up. He looked at Sam, who was staring at the wall. "You okay?"

"Yeah," said Sam quietly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hey, your scales are fading," said Dean.

Sam looked down at his hands to see that he could barely see the aqua scales anymore, and his forearm fins had diminished in size.

"That's something, huh?" said Dean, heading into the bathroom to fix the shower curtain.

"Yeah…" said Sam. "Something."

He could not stop thinking about what Bobby had just said.

_Immortal,_ Sam thought. _Merfolk are immortal…_

He could not help thinking that he had just found the magic solution to Dean's deal after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Alright, how's it going?" asked Dean.

"Um…could you get me some pants?" asked Sam, his face red.

Dean turned to see that Sam's legs had mostly returned to normal. The only scales left were around his mid-section. Pretty soon, those would be gone, too. And the way that Sam got there…in the shower…

"Uh…yeah," said Dean. He turned and grabbed a pair of jeans from Sam's duffel, tossing them to him.

Sam hastily pulled them on, comfortable with letting the scales dry off under the denim.

"Shall we go get something to eat?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, just, uh…no seafood, alright?" asked Sam, grabbing a shirt from his duffel.

Dean chuckled. "Can't promise anything."

Sam rolled his eyes as he pulled his shirt on and grabbed a jacket. He and Dean drove to a diner and sat down at a booth. After a minute or so, a waitress walked up to them.

"What can I get you boys?" the woman asked.

"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger, extra onion, side of fries and a Coke," said Dean.

"I'll take the grilled chicken sandwich, side of mashed potatoes and a water," said Sam.

"Alrighty," said the woman.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Why do you insist on eating healthy food? It's not natural."

"Whereas meat covered in deep fried bacon with greasy fries and carbonated sugar is perfectly natural," Sam pointed out, cautiously sliding the salt shaker over to Dean's side of the table.

"Just the way God intended it," smirked Dean.

Sam smiled, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Dean."

The waitress walked back with their drinks. "A Coke…" She set the glass down in front of Dean.

"Thank you," smiled Dean.

"And a water for—" began the waitress.

As she was about to set the drink down, a little boy ran past, knocking into her legs. The waitress stumbled a little, spilling a quarter of the drink onto the table…on one of Sam's hands. Sam gasped as he and Dean watched the aqua scales erupt on the back of his right hand and the fin grew slightly from his forearm. Luckily, the waitress was preoccupied with making sure she didn't trip the kid or anything. Sam quickly stuffed his hand under the table.

"I'm so sorry," said the waitress.

Sam smiled. "Oh, it's okay. Kids, right? What can you do?"

"Yeah," said the waitress. "I can get you another water."

"Oh, it's fine," Sam told her. "This still has plenty of water. I'll just finish it."

"I'll just grab a rag," said the waitress, hurrying back to the counter. She returned soon with a rag and wiped the table off. "I'll be back soon with your food."

"Thank you," smiled Dean. When she walked away, Dean grabbed Sam's glass. "I'll dry that off."

Dean grabbed a napkin and dried the outside of the glass off so it didn't affect Sam. "Here ya go, buddy." He leaned down a little to pass Sam a napkin under the table.

Sam grabbed the napkin and tried to dry his hand off. It didn't really work. "Dammit."

"We need to buy a hair dryer?" asked Dean, smiling.

"Very funny," said Sam, using his dry hand to throw the napkin back onto the table.

"So, where to next?" asked Dean.

"I don't even know," said Sam. "Do you really think we should be going anywhere? Shouldn't we wait to see what Bobby digs up?"

"Well, what are we gonna do in the meantime?" asked Dean. "Just sit around and do nothing?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. How helpful am I gonna be when I have to avoid water and iron and salt?"

"Well, you can be research boy, as usual," said Dean.

"Gee, thanks," said Sam, taking a big gulp of water. "You even have a bead on a hunt?"

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."

Sam stared at him.

"Okay, no, not really," Dean admitted. "We can look, though."

"Yeah, whatever," said Sam.

The waitress walked back to their table with their food.

"That was fast," said Dean.

"Well, we pride ourselves on service and speed," the waitress smiled. "The bacon cheeseburger…" She set the food down in front of Dean. "And the grilled chicken…" She set the plate down in front of Sam. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do," nodded Dean, already digging into his food.

Awkwardly eating one handed, Sam took a few bites of his sandwich before switching to the mashed potatoes. After a couple bites, Sam froze. Something was wrong. His mouth was incredibly dry…too dry. Sam grabbed his glass of water, chugging the rest of it.

"Geez, Sammy," muttered Dean around his mouthful of beef. "Bobby wasn't kidding about mermaids needing water."

Sam slammed the glass down on the table, but the water didn't help. His mouth felt—literally—like a desert. He grabbed at his throat as it scratched at itself.

"Sammy?" asked Dean, staring at him.

Feeling like his mouth and throat were made of sandpaper, Sam darted up from the table, rushing towards the bathroom. Dean watched Sam go, staring in shock. The waitress walked over.

"Is he alright?" asked the waitress.

"Yeah, it's, uh…" said Dean. "What was in that food?"

"Um, tomato, lettuce and mayo on the sandwich," said the waitress. "Butter and salt in the mashed—"

"Salt?" asked Dean, eyes going wide. "You put salt in the potatoes?"

"Yes," said the waitress. "It makes the potatoes taste better if we put salt into the mix before we cook it."

"Dammit," muttered Dean, looking over at the bathroom.

"What is it?" asked the waitress.

"Uh…salt…allergy," Dean made up.

"People can be allergic to salt?" asked the waitress.

"Oh, yeah," said Dean, nodding. "It's, uh…very rare. Something about the sodium and the…sodium."

He quickly darted for the bathroom, finding Sam with his face in the sink, drinking straight from the faucet.

_He's probably been that way ever since he got in here,_ Dean thought.

Dean put his hand on Sam's back. "You okay?"

Sam held up his scaled hand, telling Dean to wait a moment. He continued to gulp water for another full minute. He finally shut the water off, gulping for air.

"What…" Sam rasped out, his throat still dry as hell, "what…happened?"

"They put salt in their potatoes," explained Dean.

Sam glared at him.

"I didn't tell them to!" said Dean. "Don't look at me like that!"

Sam shook his head, grabbing at his throat. "Can we…just get…out of here?"

"Yeah, I'll get doggie bags," said Dean, heading back into the dining room.

Sam turned on the faucet and gulped down some more water before heading out into the dining room, stuffing his right hand into his jacket pocket. Dean waved him over to the front door, holding two bags in his hand. Sam climbed into the Impala with Dean, and they sped towards the motel.

"You doing better?" asked Dean.

Sam rubbed at his scratchy throat. "I'll live." His voice was still a little raspy.

"You better," said Dean. "What am I gonna do without my fish boy brother?"

Sam glared at him. "Ha-ha. I can't die just from salt, remember?"

"No, but I bet it hurts," said Dean.

Sam nodded, thinking back to the whole immortal thing. He was still wondering about that. If he was immortal, did that mean they could get out of the deal without Sam dropping dead?

******************************************************SPN*******************************************

Sam glanced over at Dean's bed to see him fast asleep. Sam walked over to Dean's bed, wanting to make sure he was asleep.

"Dean?" Sam whispered. "You awake?"

There was no response.

Sam smiled a little. "Dean, I'm gonna go paint the Impala pink."

Dean took a deep breath. "Whatever ya say, S'mmy…" He turned his head a little more into the pillow, still fast asleep.

Sam smiled and shook his head, heading over to Dean's jacket slung over a chair. He pulled the car keys out of Dean's pocket and snuck out to the Impala. He climbed in and drove to the nearest crossroads. He _had_ to find out the truth.

Sam grabbed the box out of the Impala and headed to the middle of the crossroads, digging a hole in the ground and burying the box. Sam stood up and looked around, waiting for the demon to show up.

"You know, this is already getting old, Sam," came a voice from behind him.

Sam turned to see a blonde woman in a black dress standing in the crossroads.

"How many 'no's' does it take to get through to you?" asked the demon.

Sam just glared at her, walking closer.

"You gonna shoot me?" smirked the demon. "Word on the street is you lost the Colt." She shook her head, tsk-ing at him. "Should've kept a closer eye on it, huh?"

Sam got right down to it. "Does the deal still stand?"

The demon frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

It was Sam's turn to frown. "You haven't heard about me?"

"What, you going all Ariel? Yeah, we know. So?"

"I'm immortal. Which means if Dean and I find a way out of the deal, I won't drop dead."

The demon sighed and stepped closer. "The deal was…you get to live…and Dean gets to go to hell. Now that you're immortal…" She smiled wickedly. "Well, you get to live forever. And don't forget…" her smile morphed into a glare. "You may be immortal now, but you can still be killed. If you two try to weasel your way out of that deal, I **will** find an iron dagger coated in salt…and stab it through your heart. 'Kay?" She smiled sickly sweet.

Sam glared at her. "You're an evil bitch."

"And you're a selfish dick," she said. "I'm glad we got that cleared up." She turned, walking away from him. "Best go enjoy your last few months with your brother…" She disappeared into the night.

Sam stared at the spot she had vanished…wondering what he was going to do now…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Sam flipped the headlights off as he entered the motel parking lot, not wanting the light through the window to wake Dean up. He turned off the car, got out, locked the door, and headed to the room door, stealthily unlocking the door and easing it open. He looked over at Dean's bed to see that he was still sound asleep. Sam carefully shut the door, slowly sliding the dead bolt into its slot.

The room suddenly filled with light. Sam spun around to see Dean sitting at the table in the corner behind him, a lit lamp next to him.

"Welcome back, Sam," said Dean, his eyes narrowed.

Sam closed his eyes, sighing and dropping his head to his chest. _Why do I fall for that trick every time?_

Dean would always stuff the pillows under his blankets to catch Sam when he would sneak out. He'd started that little ruse when Sam was a teenager and would slip out of the room in the middle of the night. Dean still broke it out every once in a while.

"Where were you?" asked Dean, spotting gravel dust on the knees of Sam's jeans. "Planting daisies?"

"I was—" began Sam.

"And don't bother saying you were out getting a beer," said Dean. "I'm not stupid."

Sam sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I went for a drive."

"A drive?" said Dean, staring at Sam.

"Yeah, a drive," said Sam. "Felt like a drive."

Dean closed his eyes in annoyance, dropping his head for a moment. After a while, he looked up at Sam. "You went to a crossroads, didn't you?"

Sam began to object.

"Don't," said Dean. "I've been watching you since we talked to Bobby…since you found out you were immortal."

Sam sighed, looking down at the floor. "Yes…I went to a crossroads."

Dean nodded, taking that in. "What'd she say?"

Sam frowned, looking up at Dean. "You're not mad?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm mad," said Dean, standing and walking towards Sam. "I'm mad that you didn't tell me about it, that you hid it from me. I'm onboard with breaking the deal, remember?"

Sam nodded.

"So, what'd she say?" asked Dean.

Sam sighed again. "She said the deal still stands."

Dean frowned. "Why?"

"Because you made the deal to save my life," Sam explained. "And now I can't die."

Dean stared at him for a moment. "That's stupid!"

"I know, but their theory is that as long as I'm alive, you're going to hell."

"Well, now, we can get out of the deal," said Dean. "You're immortal."

"I can still be killed," Sam reminded him.

Dean shook his head. "Dammit!" He placed his hands on his hips. "So, I'm still dying."

Sam froze, staring at the floor. "Maybe not."

Dean looked at him. "What?"

Sam looked up at him. "If you're immortal, the hellhounds can't kill you."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Sam…"

"Hear me out," said Sam rapidly. "We turn you into a merman, you won't have to worry about the deal!"

"And what stops the crossroads demon from using a salt-iron dagger to my heart?" Dean pointed out.

Sam stared at him.

"I want to break this deal as much as you do, but you know hell is gonna be looking for any chance to take me," Dean pointed out.

Sam ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

Dean rolled his eyes. "If you sigh one more time, I swear…"

Sam turned toward his bed, kicking off his boots and dumping his jacket on the floor. He took his jeans off and pulled the covers back, sitting on the bed and taking his watch off.

"No shower?" asked Dean, heading to his own bed.

Sam huffed out a chuckle. "And have a repeat of last time? I don't think so." He crawled under the covers and rolled onto his side, trying to ignore the itch beginning to emerge all over.

***********************************************SPN************************************************

"You ready yet?" Dean banged on the bathroom door.

"Just hang on a second," Sam threw back at him.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You know, for someone who can't use the water, you sure take forever to get ready."

"That's **why** it takes forever," Sam told him. He grabbed the plastic cup from the counter, filling it and then draining it about seven times. He opened the bathroom door. "Okay, let's go."

"Finally," muttered Dean, heading for the door.

Dean opened the door, heading out as Sam followed. Dean stepped off the covered porch, pulling his jacket closed around him to keep out the rain. As he pulled his keys out, he looked back to see Sam standing frozen in the doorway.

Dean rushed back under the porch roof. "What is it?"

Sam looked past him, staring at the sky. Dean turned and looked at the steady rain falling, and it suddenly dawned on him.

"Oh, crap," muttered Dean.

There was no way Sam could go out in this. Two steps, and he'd be face first on the pavement.

"Um…" said Dean. "I'll get out orders to go."

"Thanks," muttered Sam, reluctantly heading back into the room.

"The usual?" asked Dean.

"Sure," said Sam, closing the door.

Dean ran back out to the Impala, heading off for a roadhouse or something. He found a Lonestar down the road and pulled in, heading inside.

"Howdy, welcome to Lonestar, how many in your party?" greeted the hostess.

"Can I just get a to go order?" asked Dean.

"Sure, just go see the bartender," said the hostess, gesturing towards the bar around the corner.

Dean headed around the corner, stepping up to the bar counter. "Hey, man, can I get a to go order?"

"Sure," said the bartender, pulling out his order pad. "What can I get ya?"

Dean grabbed a menu and glanced over it real quick. "The, uh, Texas Ribeye, well done. Side of…fries and baked potato with bacon and cheddar. And then…Chicken Caesar Salad with the grilled chicken. Now, the salad…" He made sure the bartender was looking straight at him. "No salt. You get me? Even if the ingredients are made with salt. **No salt**. My brother is highly allergic. One bit of salt, and he'll die. You got it?"

The bartender nodded emphatically. "The salad, no salt. Right?"

"Yes, salad, no salt," Dean emphasized. "If he dies, I'll be back."

The bartender chuckled a little before realizing that Dean was completely serious. He quickly sobered. "Yes, yes, of course. I'll tell them, like, three times."

"Make it four," Dean said.

"Sure thing," said the bartender. "I'll go tell them personally. In fact, I'll watch them make it."

"Thank you," said Dean, making note to tip this guy.

****************************************SPN********************************************************

Sam dropped the remote back onto the bed, settling on Syfy's "Ghost Adventures." As he got lost in the ridiculous—yet entertaining—show, he contemplated everything Bobby had told them about mermaids.

_Immortal, song entices, healing kiss, hyrokinesis…_

Sam stopped, thinking to himself. _Hydrokinesis…the power to move water with the mind…_

Sam glanced over at the glass of water on the night stand. Sam stared at it for a moment, deciding to give it a shot. He reached his hand out over the glass, concentrating with everything he had. A spark arched through his mind, startling him, and the surface of the water dipped slightly. Sam concentrated harder, and the center of the water rose like a column out of the glass. Sam watched with fascination as the water ascended out of the glass and into the air, spiraling into a circle in front of him.

Sam faced his palm upwards as the little water globe coiled in circles above it. Sam stared at the ball of water, a small smile appearing on his face. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Having fun?"

Sam jumped, losing his concentration. The water fell down onto his hand, running down his arm. Scales appeared on his hand, and the fin erupted from his arm. Sam's head snapped up, looking at the door to see Dean with a big to go bag in his hand.

"Dean…" muttered Sam, looking down at his transformed arm. "You just had to do that, didn't you?"

Dean smiled widely. "Totally." He closed the room door and placed the bag on the table, pulling his Styrofoam box out of the bag.

"You made sure there was no salt?" asked Sam.

"Oh, yeah, I made sure," said Dean. "Come on, Charlton Heston, dig in."

Rolling his eyes at the Moses comment, Sam headed to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, drying his arm off as best as he could. He headed back to the table, grabbing his box out of the bag and digging into the salad.

**********************************************************SPN************************************************

"Okay, so, where are we going?" asked Dean that evening. "We have been holed up here way too long without a hunt."

"I don't know, man," said Sam, rubbing at his neck. He filled a glass of water. "Maybe we should just go to Bobby's." He drained the glass of water.

"That could work," said Dean. "The problem is, we missed check out, and they already charged the card."

Sam emptied another glass of water. "So? The card's fake."

"Well, if it's already paid for…" shrugged Dean, "why not stay here one more night? We'll leave in the morning. Fine."

"You wanna head out?" asked Sam. "I think it stopped raining." Sam drained another glass of water.

"Yeah, I could use a beer," said Dean. "Come on, Nemo."

Sam winced, filling another glass of water. "Don't ever call me that again."

Dean laughed as he watched Sam empty another glass of water. "Well, can you blame me? I mean, look at you. You're drinking non-stop."

"That's not my fault," said Sam. "I'm thirsty."

"Yeah, I know you're thirsty."

"No, more than usual," said Sam, rubbing at his hands, both of which were now normal again. He could feel an itch on his skin all over. His skin felt so dry and rough. He couldn't explain it. He was drinking all the water he could get.

"You gonna be okay?" asked Dean.

"Yeah," said Sam. "I'll just order more water at the bar."

Dean shrugged. "Okay."

As Dean walked out the door, Sam looked down at his hand, frowning at the white dry patches beginning to show up.

_I'm gonna need a lot of water when we get there,_ Sam thought, heading out the door.

*************************************************SPN***********************************************************

Dean drained the last of his beer, looking over at Sam. "You okay?"

Sam looked at him out of the corner of his eye, still drinking his water. He put the glass back down on the table, nodding. "I'm fine. I just need more water."

Dean frowned, becoming very concerned about Sam. "Sam, we've been here for twenty minutes, and you've had, like, fifteen glasses of water."

"I'm thirsty," Sam insisted, his throat very raspy. But even he was beginning to doubt that answer. He wasn't like this yesterday. Sure, he drank a lot then, but this was getting ridiculous.

"You sure?" asked Dean.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, looking over to see where their waitress was. "I just need water."

Dean frowned, looking closely at Sam. "Sam…"

"What?" asked Sam, still looking for their waitress.

"Your neck is peeling," said Dean.

Sam looked at him. "What?"

"Your neck is peeling, Sammy," said Dean.

Sam reached up, touching his neck. Sure enough, his skin was rough and cracked, almost like the mermaid when they killed her. Sam looked down at his hands, which were so dry they looked like they had barnacles growing on them.

"What…" said Sam, his voice still rough. "What the hell…"

"Sam…" said Dean, his eyes widening.

Sam looked up at him. "What? What is it?"

"You don't wanna know," said Dean, quickly getting out of his chair.

Sam reached up to his face, feeling as it began to dry out and crack.

"We gotta get you into the water," said Dean, pulling Sam out of his chair. "Quick."

Sam got out of the door with Dean and did his best to head across the street towards the motel, but his head was beginning to spin. The extreme dehydration was finally taking its toll.

"Dean…I…" began Sam, grasping onto Dean's jacket.

"No, don't you dare pass out on me!" said Dean, grabbing at Sam's jacket. "Stay with me, Sammy!"

"I…don't feel so…" said Sam as his eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed to the pavement.

"Sammy!" yelled Dean.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Dean caught his brother as he passed out. "Sammy! Sam! Sam, wake up!"

Sam was unconscious and growing paler by the second.

"Dammit," Dean muttered.

Dean pulled Sam into his arms with some difficulty and did his best to walk across the street. Dean set Sam on the porch of the motel, pulling his key out and jamming it into the lock. The door swung open, and Dean grabbed Sam's arms, dragging him into the room. Dean dragged Sam over to the bathroom, dropping his torso onto the tile. Dean turned the faucet on, plugging up the drain.

Dean waited impatiently as it slowly filled with water. "Come on. Come on!"

When it had about two inches of water in it, Dean grabbed hold of Sam, pulling his jacket and boots off and pulling him into the tub. Sam hit the bottom of the tub. His hands were in the couple inches of water, and his arms sprouted fins, ripping through his long sleeves. His skin colored a bit as the cracked, dry skin of his hands became smooth once again.

Dean grabbed the showerhead and flipped that little switch that makes the water go from the faucet to the showerhead. He sprayed the water down onto Sam. Sam's jeans ripped as his legs fused together, transforming into that blue mer-tail. Sam's skin colored back to their original pigment, and his dry skin disappeared, replaced with smooth skin.

Dean let the showerhead run for a little bit longer until the water was about six inches deep. Dean shut the showerhead off, letting the water run through the faucet again. It filled to up to about a foot or so deep, and Dean shut the faucet off.

Sam lay unconscious in the tub for a while before finally gasping and opening his eyes.

"Hey, man, you okay?" asked Dean.

Sam looked around at the motel bathroom. "Yeah. I'm fine…I guess." He looked down at his shredded jeans, still attached to him at the waist. "What happened?"

"I had to get you into some water," said Dean. "Didn't have time to…take the jeans off. What happened, man? You've been drinking enough water."

"I don't know," said Sam, undoing the belt from around his waist. "Call Bobby."

Dean grabbed his cell phone, dialing Bobby up. Sam listened to the one-sided conversation while he undid the fly. From the fly down, the inseam of the jeans on either leg was torn, and the jeans were hanging on either side of his tail. When the fly was undone, Sam grabbed the soggy jeans and dropped them on the bathroom floor.

"Bobby, we got a problem," said Dean.

"Of course you do," said Bobby. "You only call me when everything is falling to pieces. What happened?"

"Sam is, like, drying out, or something," said Dean. "I had to get him into the bathtub. You didn't say anything about this."

"Well, I told you guys that mermaids need water regularly," said Bobby.

"Yeah, he's been drinking water nonstop," said Dean.

Bobby sighed, probably rolling his eyes. "He needs water _externally_, too, ya idjit. A mermaid needs to get into the water at least once every twenty-four hours, in addition to drinking more water than a normal human being."

Dean put his hands on his hips. "And you didn't think you should have clarified that?"

"Well, now you know, don't you?" said Bobby, hanging up.

Dean dropped his arm to his side, letting his cell phone hang from his hand.

"Well?" asked Sam.

"Well, apparently, Bobby thinks he made it clear that we knew mermaids needed to be in water once a day, as well as drinking a lot of water," Dean smiled down at Sam.

Sam frowned. "Seriously? He thought we would get that from what he said?"

"I know!" said Dean, shaking his head. He looked back out into the motel room, spotting the open door. "Oh, man, soak for a bit. I'll be back."

Sam watched as Dean left the bathroom. He closed his eyes, taking in the water. He felt so much better in the water. It was so soothing.

"_Samuel…"_

Sam sat bolt upright, glancing around the room. His jaw dropped open as he listened intently.

"_Samuel…"_

Sam's eyes widened as he heard the faint feminine voice once more. "Dean!"

Dean darted back into the bathroom. "What? What? What is it?"

"Did you hear that?" asked Sam, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Dean looked around. "Hear what?"

"That voice…" said Sam.

"What voice?" asked Dean, very concerned now.

"It was—" Sam began.

"_Samuel…"_

Sam froze, staring at the wall. Dean waved a hand in front of Sam's face.

"_Come…Samuel…"_

Sam could feel the voice beckoning him towards it. He could feel something in that voice, something that was indistinguishable from something inside of him. Something deep inside of him recognized something deep inside of that voice.

"Sam!" said Dean.

Sam jumped and looked up at Dean. "Huh?"

"You okay?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, I…I heard it again," said Sam.

"What'd it say?" asked Dean, squatting down next to the tub.

"It said my name," said Sam. "My whole name: Samuel. And then it said, 'come.'"

Dean smirked. "Kind of a pervy little voice, don't ya think?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously; mind, gutter. I felt like the voice wanted to me come find it."

"Well, that's not a whole lot to go on," said Dean.

"Well, there's something else," said Sam. "I felt that…I should head east…back the way we came."

Dean frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Mermaids can communicate telepathically with each other when they're in fish form," explained Sam. "There may be more mermaids back there."

Dean rubbed a hand over his face. "Great, more stuff to kill."

"Hang on, Dean," said Sam. "I don't think this one is evil."

"Not evil?" said Dean. "They drag humans underwater and squeeze them to death."

"Dean, just because something isn't human, doesn't mean that it's evil."

"Have **you** ever met a good mermaid?" asked Dean.

"Had **you** met one at all before this week?" Sam pointed out. "And had you met a good vampire before Lenore?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "How do you know she's not evil?"

"I don't," said Sam. "She just…feels different. I think we should check this out."

Dean shrugged. "Well, it's better than sitting around here for who knows how long." He looked closely at Sam. "You think you can find anything out from here?"

Sam stared at him. "What, you mean, like, telepathically?"

"Yeah, try asking her some questions, or something," said Dean, leaning closer curiously.

"Fine, but I'm not promising anything," said Sam.

Sam closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out towards that voice. He could feel something…almost like a long string that connected him to this voice. He nudged along that connection, trying to contact her.

"_Yes, Samuel?" _asked the voice, still faint and distant.

Sam's eyes opened in alarm. He hadn't expected to be able to do it.

"What?" asked Dean.

"It worked…" breathed Sam in amazement.

"What'd she say?" asked Dean.

"Well, hang on a minute," said Sam.

He closed his eyes once again, feeling along the mental connection. It was easier this time, since he'd already done it once before.

"_Who are you?"_ Sam asked her.

"_I am Elizabeth," _she responded.

"_I'm just gonna call you, Liz," _said Sam. _"How about that?"_

There was a small giggle in Sam's head. _"How about Lizzie?"_

Sam smiled a little. _"Alright, Lizzie. What are you?"_

"_I'm like you," _answered Lizzie. _"I felt you two nights ago…your aura arose in my mind, new and bright."_

Sam nodded, thinking, _That was when I changed the first time._

"_Can you always sense me?" _Sam asked.

"_We can only sense others like us when we and they are in merform," _Lizzie answered.

"_So, what, you're my soul mate, or something?"_ Sam asked. _"That's why you can feel me?"_

"_No," _said Lizzie. _"We can all feel each other. We want to bring you home."_

"_Home?"_ asked Sam.

"_With us," _said Lizzie.

"_And where is that?"_ asked Sam.

"_You already know," _replied Lizzie, her face fading into nothing.

And like that, she was gone. Sam opened his eyes.

"Well?" asked Dean.

"We're heading back where we came from," said Sam. "I have a pretty good idea where they're located. I think Lizzie will be waiting for us—I mean, me."

"Lizzie?" asked Dean.

"The voice," said Sam. "Her name is Lizzie. And she says there are more mer-people where she is."

"Alright, let's get you dried off," said Dean.

******************************************************SPN*********************************************

"Okay, so, where we headed?" asked Dean.

They had let Sam dry off under the covers as they slept in the motel room last night. They'd hit the road the next morning, heading back to Myrtle Beach. When they hit town, Dean pulled over at a gas station to fill up.

Sam looked over at Dean from the passenger seat. "Um…" he looked around at the roads. "You know, it'd be safer to wait to contact her at night. No prying eyes."

"Okay, let's get a room," said Dean, driving down the road to the nearest hotel.

Dean made sure to avoid the hotel they had already stayed at. He didn't want to raise suspicions with his fake cards.

They found a small inn close to the beach and paid for a room, heading inside to wait for night.

An hour later, Dean's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Dean answered.

"I think I found the cure," said Bobby abruptly.

"You did?" asked Dean, frowning. "There's a cure?"

"It looks like," said Bobby. "There's only one problem."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Of course there is. What is it?"

"Only the mermaids know it," said Bobby.

Dean paused for a while. "What?"

"There has never been a single cure recorded in lore history," said Bobby. "But, it looks like the mermaids would be the only ones who would know how to do it. They'd have to take Sam to their underwater world, or wherever they live."

"Well, that's just great," said Dean.

"Dean, not all mermaids are evil," said Bobby.

"Yeah, yeah, you and Sam can keep saying it, I still don't believe it," said Dean, hanging up.

"What's up?" asked Sam.

"Bobby says only the mermaids can cure you," said Dean.

Sam nodded. "Okay. We'll just have to find them, then."

Dean shook his head at Sam. "I still say this is a bad idea."

"Well, you got any other ideas?" asked Sam.

Dean just stared at him.

"That's what I thought," said Sam.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Alright, I think you should wait in that building over there," said Sam. "I have a feeling she won't show if you're there."

As the sun went down, Sam had led Dean to an abandoned dock downtown. The building stood ten feet from the dock area with a good view of the area. The water gathered at the edge of the dock. A wood wall was built in the water, cutting the dock off from the rest of the ocean. The center of the wall was worn down a little, dipping down into the water slightly.

"Okay, but if I see anything fishy—" began Dean.

Sam opened his mouth to make a joke.

"Not that kind of fishy," Dean shot at him. "If I see anything wrong, I'm gonna come running."

Sam nodded. "Fine. Now, leave."

Dean rolled his eyes, running over to the building. Sam looked over at the dock, waiting for whatever was coming. He glanced around, making sure no one was around.

There was a light splash, and Sam quickly looked back at the dock. The water just inside the wall rippled; something had just jumped in from the outside. Sam looked closely. He saw a head of red hair rise a little out of the water, brown eyes staring fearfully at him. Sam wondered if this was Lizzie. Sam stepped closer, wanting to ask.

The mermaid ducked underwater quickly, her tail surfacing as she fled.

"No, wait!" Sam called out. Taking a chance, he ran to the edge of the dock. "Lizzie!"

After a couple seconds, the red head popped up again, staring at him. Sam put his hands up to ease her panic. Sam slowly slipped his jacket off and knelt down, dipping his arm in the water. He lifted his arm out of the water, showing her his fin and scales. The fear melted from Lizzie's face, and she edged forward in the water a little more, her head coming up fully from the water.

Sam stared in amazement. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her smile reminded him of Jessica's smile. Shiny black scales dotted the sides of her neck. Sam smiled at her as he kicked his boots and socks off. Glancing around once again to make sure no one was there and feeling a little awkward, Sam grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his head. Not wanting another jeans-ripping episode, Sam quickly slipped his pants off, leaving him standing in his boxers.

Sam quickly slipped down onto the dock, submerging his legs in the water. He felt the tingle as his feet and calves merged together, transforming into the blue tail. Sam eased off of the dock, bobbing in the water. The tail quickly formed, along with his other arm fin. Sam was amazed at how easy it was to stay afloat. Usually in order to tread water, he had to move his legs and arms around a lot. But that was when he was human. Now, he seemed to naturally float in the water, with hardly a muscle working to tread water. It was probably part of the whole hydrokinesis thing.

Sam looked over at the red-headed mermaid. She was watching him intently.

"Hi," said Sam.

She smiled. "Hi…Samuel."

Sam smiled at her. "How about Sam?"

She giggled at little, a giggle that Sam recognized. "Sam…"

"Lizzie?" asked Sam.

Lizzie nodded. "Your first time?"

Sam frowned. "What?"

"In the water…" said Lizzie. "Not just a tub full of water."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, actually."

Lizzie smiled suggestively. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

She abruptly turned, diving up out of the water and back under it. She surfaced as she jumped over the wooden wall and plunged back into the water. Sam watched as she flitted about in the shallow ocean, waiting for him. Sam glanced over at the building by the dock. Dean peeked a little further out from behind the edge of the window on the first floor. Dean shrugged and tipped his head in the direction of Lizzie in a "go get her" motion. Sam rolled his eyes as he looked back at Lizzie.

Sam concentrated on the section of his mind that would know how to use his new body. Sam took a deep breath and began swimming towards the wall. Halfway there, he dipped under the water, building up the momentum. His tail beat the water furiously as he surfaced and jumped over the wall, sinking back under the surface on the other side.

Sam was amazed at how good it felt to soar through the water. It was his first time in a roomy area of water. He'd only ever been in the motel tubs. The tail worked with the water so efficiently. Sam was also shocked at how he could breathe under the water. It felt so weird. He knew that he should be holding his breath, but at the same time, his mer-body was now made to breathe in the water also.

Sam looked around under the water, spotting Lizzie smiling at him from about a hundred feet away. Her tail had black scales on it, which blended with her red hair perfectly. And just like the mermaid they'd killed earlier that week, she didn't have forearm fins like Sam did. That was probably the difference between merman and mermaids…other than the whole 'scales covering the breasts' thing. Speaking of which, her breast scales were also black.

Lizzie beckoned him towards her.

"_Let's go have some fun, Sam," _Lizzie giggled in his head.

Sam smiled and darted after her as she zoomed away. The two of them zipped around each other, playing in the moonlight. Lizzie took him out away from the shore and down into the ocean depths. They explored coral reefs and underwater caves, Lizzie showing him all the ocean had to offer.

Sam suddenly halted, looking around in confusion. Lizzie also looked around, a look of worry on her face.

"_What is that?"_ Sam asked her.

"_Something's wrong," _Lizzie told him. _"We gotta go."_

Lizzie darted off, and Sam hurriedly followed her. About a hundred yards out, they surfaced and looked back to see an oil tanker steaming out into the ocean.

"Gas leak," said Lizzie, glaring at the tanker.

"Really?" asked Sam. "How can you tell?"

"Well, you're new, so you probably don't know this, but mer-people can sense changes in the water," Lizzie told him. "You know, dangerous stuff, like poison and blood. Or—"

"Gasoline," said Sam, staring at the tanker. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"We can't," said Lizzie. "It'll eventually dilute itself. Anytime you feel that 'spider sense' in the back of your mind, pay attention. It'll help." She ducked under the water.

Sam followed her under. _"'Spider sense'? When were you turned?"_

Lizzie looked over at him as they swam next to each other. _"About five years ago now."_

"_Wow…" _said Sam. _"How did it happen?"_

Lizzie didn't answer, but she pulled ahead of him, diving down deep.

_I guess that's a sore subject,_ Sam thought, following her.

"_Do you have family?" _Sam asked.

Lizzie hesitated a little more, recovering from his earlier question. _"Yes. My sister got turned a year after I did."_

"_She wanted to be with you, didn't she?"_ asked Sam.

Lizzie nodded. _"Yeah. She's the oldest. She finally found out what happened to me and wanted to look after me."_

Sam chuckled. _"I know how that feels."_

"_You have an older sister, too?" _asked Lizzie.

"_Older brother," _Sam told her. _"He, uh, was there when I first changed. He's been helping me figure everything out. In fact, he's waiting back at the dock for when I come back."_

Lizzie looked at him. _"You brought a mortal with you?"_

"_He's my brother, Lizzie," _Sam told her. _"I'm not gonna hide this from him."_

"_I guess that makes sense," _Lizzie assented.

"_Did you not tell your sister at first?" _asked Sam.

Lizzie hesitated again. _"No, I didn't. It, uh, was complicated."_

Sam nodded, knowing that it was something to do with how she changed and not wanting to press it.

"_But now, I'm free," _said Lizzie. _"This world is so much better than mine ever was."_

Sam smiled. _"It is pretty amazing. I've never seen anything like it."_

Lizzie smiled at him. _"You wanna see more? I can show you where we live."_

"_Sure," _said Sam, following her as she headed off.

"_Good, we should head in soon," _said Lizzie. _"It's getting late."_

Sam stopped, looking up at the surface of the water miles above them. It did look slightly lighter. _"What time is it?"_

"_I'd put it at about five-thirty," _she answered.

Sam's eyes widened. _"I gotta go." _He started swimming back towards the shore.

Lizzie followed him. _"What? What's wrong?"_

"_My brother's waiting for me," _said Sam, speeding up. _"I gotta get back in time for Dean to get me into the car so no one sees."_

"_Dean?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_My brother," _said Sam. _"It's gonna take him a while to drag me into the car."_

"_Why does he need to drag you to the car?" _asked Lizzie.

"'_Cause we can't walk with these tails," _said Sam. _"I should've given myself time to dry off. What was I thinking?"_

"_Just dry yourself off, Sam," _said Lizzie.

"_I can only dry myself off so much," _Sam told her.

"_No, with your mind," _said Lizzie.

Sam glanced back at her while still swimming towards shore. _"What?"_

"_You haven't tried the hydrokinesis thing?" _asked Lizzie.

"_You can use that to dry off?" _asked Sam.

"_Yeah," _said Lizzie. _"You think mer-people really sit around for hours, waiting to change back to human form? If you use the hydrokinesis, you can drain the water right off of your body and out of your scales and everything."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah. Give it a try when you get back to shore."_

"_Thanks," _said Sam as the shore began to close in around them.

They swam to the wooden wall, peeking over the edge. The dawn light was shining into the dock, but no one was there. Sam did spot Dean leaning out the window, relaxing when he spotted Sam.

"Come on," Sam told Lizzie.

Sam and Lizzie dunked back under the water, diving up to the surface and jumping over the wall. They swam to the edge of the dock.

Dean ran over to the edge. "Where you been, Sam? Geez."

Lizzie backed off a little.

Sam turned towards her. "Oh, it's okay. This is Dean."

Lizzie relaxed a little, looking up at Dean. "You know, you guys seem very comfortable with this whole 'mermaid' thing."

"Well, we kind of know a thing or two about this stuff," Sam told her.

Lizzie's eyes widened. "You're the hunters, aren't you? You guys killed Amanda this week."

"Hey, she attacked first," said Dean. "And she—"

"It's alright," said Lizzie. "She wasn't a part of our group."

Dean frowned. "She wasn't?"

"Not all of us are evil, you know," said Lizzie. "I mean, OJ and Ted Bundy and Son of Sam and Charles Manson were monsters, but that doesn't mean all humans are inherently evil."

Sam looked at his brother. "You know, she's got a point."

Dean waved his hand at them. "Argue about it later. We need to move, Sam, before someone sees me hauling your ass to the car."

"Actually, we solved that little problem…I think," said Sam.

"You did?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, just go get the car," Sam told him.

Dean darted off for where they parked the car.

Sam gripped the dock, pulling his body out of the water and flopping his tail onto the dock. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling that spark flit through his brain.

"_Sam!"_ Lizzie warned.

Sam opened his eyes to see someone peeking out from behind the abandoned building. Sam quickly splashed back into the water, ducking down under the surface with her. He and Lizzie watched as the person came up to the edge of the dock, leaning over the water and raising something to his face.

"_It's a camera!" _said Sam. _"He must have gotten word of those killings and came to investigate."_

"_What do we do?" _asked Lizzie. _"If we try to get past the wall, he'll see us jump. I don't want any reporters to go hunting for my family and friends."_

Sam thought for a moment. _"I got an idea. Come on." _He took Lizzie over to the farthest corner of the water as deep as they could get. _"Wait here."_

Lizzie nodded and watched as Sam cautiously rose to the surface in front of the dock. Sam poked his head up through the surface.

"Hey, man," said Sam. "Do you mind?"

"I thought I saw something," said the guy with the camera.

"Yeah, you're ruining the moment," said Sam, giving him a look. He hoped the guy would think he and Lizzie were just skinny dipping.

"But, man, I think I saw a girl with a tail," said the guy. "I gotta get that on camera. I mean, come on, I'll have proof of a real life mermaid!"

Sam glared at him. "You want a mermaid?" He swam a little further out, raising his tail a little and splashing the guy.

The water soaked the guy's clothes and ruined his camera.

"Rent a Disney movie!" Sam yelled after him before diving back down to where Lizzie was.

They waited until the guy moved on. They came back to the surface, and Sam poked his head up to watch the guy running off towards town.

"He's probably gonna go tell his friends now," said Lizzie, worried. "They'll know we exist."

"But his camera's broken," said Sam. "He doesn't have proof. Who's gonna believe him?"

Lizzie shrugged. "Good point."

Dean pulled up, watching the soaked guy run off towards town. He ran up to the dock. "What happened?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," said Sam, gripping the dock and pulling himself back up. "Alright, here goes nothing."

Sam concentrated once again, feeling that spark again. He could feel the water running off of his body, onto the dock and back into the water. He dried his tail out the most that he could, opening his eyes to see that he had changed back into human form. Dean quickly handed him his jeans.

"Thanks," said Sam, pulling his pants on. As he grabbed his shirt and pulled it on, he looked down at Lizzie. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Lizzie smiled at him. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye," said Sam.

Lizzie dived under the water, jumping over the wall and into the ocean. Sam quickly pulled on his jacket and his boots.

"So, what'd you find out?" asked Dean.

Sam looked at him. "A lot. Come on, I'll tell you."

They headed towards the Impala.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"So, her sister just…willingly allowed Lizzie to turn her?" asked Dean at the diner for breakfast.

"Well, Lizzie is the youngest," said Sam. "What would you do to protect me if I got turned?"

"Find a cure," said Dean. "Just like I'm already doing."

"Yeah, and I'm totally with you on that," said Sam. "But what if I wasn't? What if I wanted to stay that way?"

"Why would you?" asked Dean.

"An escape," said Sam. "I mean, it sounds like something happened to her, something that traumatized her. She took comfort in the ocean around her. So, her sister went with her to be with her."

"How'd she get turned?" asked Dean.

"She wouldn't tell me," said Sam. "But I could tell it was a bad memory."

"Well, I think you need to find out," said Dean. "We need to convince this mer colony that you're trustworthy so they'll cure you."

"We don't even know for sure if they can do it," said Sam.

"Well, the only way we'll find out is for you to get in there," said Dean. "So, start charming that girl up."

Sam stared incredulously at Dean. "Dean, I'm not gonna lead her on like that. It sounds like she's had enough heartbreak in her life."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You and your bleeding heart, Sam." He dug into his eggs and bacon. "Fine, we'll do it your way. After a nap, of course. You left me hanging for, like, eight hours straight."

"Alright," said Sam, finishing up his meal. "You done?"

"What's with the hurry?" asked Dean.

"That swim wiped me out," said Sam. "I'm tired."

"Alright, hang on," said Dean. He shoveled the last of his food into his mouth. "Let's go, Aquaman." He stood up from the table.

Sam groaned and rolled his eyes, standing also. "Would you stop with the names?"

Dean grinned at him. "Shamoo."

Sam rolled his eyes again and walked past him.

Dean threw some money down on the table, following him. "Free Willy."

Sam barged out the door of the diner.

"Ooh, ooh!" said Dean, rushing out the door so Sam could hear him. "Jaws!"

Sam turned to him as he stopped at the passenger door of the Impala. "Might I point out that Jaws wasn't actually the name of the shark."

"You still knew what I was talking about, though, didn't ya?" Dean pointed out with a smug smile.

****************************************************SPN*****************************************************

Sam glanced over and saw that Dean was sound asleep. Sam climbed out of his bed and snuck over to the bathroom. He didn't turn on the light because he didn't want to wake Dean up. Dean had closed the window shades to block out the sun. Sam didn't need the light anyway. His enhanced merman sight let him see the pitch black room as though a very small candle were lit in the corner.

Sam ran the water as quietly as possible—it took a while to fill up going that slow—and plugged the drain, turning the water off when it was full. Stripping off his shirt, he sat on the edge of the tub in his boxers. After all, his boxers weren't destroyed last night with Lizzie—they'd somehow transformed with him. It was probably because they were skin tight.

Sam leaned over so he was bracing himself with one hand on each side of the tub. He lowered his waist into the water to prevent his legs from slipping out from under him. His waist sprouted scales up until where his legs emerged from the water about mid-thigh.

Sam looked down at his legs/tail in astonishment. He'd never actually paid attention to how it happened. He swung his legs over the water, slowly lowering them into it. He watched as his skin slowly melted together. It was actually a pretty disturbing sight. He could even feel his bones dissolve into the long spine of his tail, and his muscles knit together to form the longer, more powerful muscle of the mer-tail. He was really quite glad when the scales covered up his fused legs.

Sam lowered the rest of his legs slowly into the water. He watched as his knees disappeared altogether. His shins smoothed out and became less angular. His ankles spread out, forming the start of the tail fin. His feet flattened and broadened like a pancake until they became the thinner membrane'd tail.

Sam glanced at his arms, slowly lowering them hand-first into the water. The scales materialized on his hands. The dark blue fin began to grow from where his carpal bones were at his wrist. It wasn't really a bone, per se; he had to be able to bend his wrist. It was cartilage, like an ear. It stopped at his elbow, looking like the dorsal fin of a dolphin.

Sam leaned back against the tub, relaxing in the water. Sam guessed it was probably the fact that he had gotten turned, but he just felt so much more comfortable in this form. Deep down, it was beginning to feel normal…natural.

Sam closed his eyes, tapping into his own mind. _"Lizzie?"_

"_Hi, Sam," _came the immediate reply.

Sam smiled. This mind-melding thing was becoming easier and easier.

"_Hi," _said Sam. _"How are you?"_

"_Good," _said Lizzie. _"You?"_

"_Aside from Dean's constant jokes, yeah," _said Sam.

"_So, how do you, a hunter…get turned into a merman?" _asked Lizzie.

Sam chuckled inwardly. _"You'd be surprised how often Dean and I get caught up in whatever we're hunting."_

Lizzie giggled again. Sam kind of liked hearing that laugh.

"_When Dean and I were killing, um…" _Sam began.

"_Amanda," _Lizzie supplied.

"_Right," _said Sam. _"Dean killed her as she was trying to kill me. Her tears fell into some cuts on my neck. We didn't find out that anything had happened until I changed that night."_

"_How do you like it so far?" _asked Lizzie.

"_You know, I'm kind of okay with it," _said Sam. _"It's oddly freeing."_

"_I know what you mean," _said Lizzie wistfully. _"Just go anywhere you want, do anything you want…It's complete freedom."_

Sam hesitated for a moment. _"What did you do? Before you became a mermaid?"_

"_Like, spare time or a job?"_

"_Spare time."_

"_Well…" _said Lizzie, reminiscing, _"I loved to read."_

"_What's your favorite book?"_

"_It was a tie between 'The Lovely Bones' and the Sherlock Holmes books."_

"_I liked 'Sherlock Holmes,' too. What else did you like to do?"_

"_I absolutely loved to play the violin."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah, I was headed to being in a symphony before—" _Lizzie stopped herself.

Sam hesitated, unsure if he should ask her. _"What happened? How'd you get turned?"_

Lizzie was quiet for a while. _"Let's just say I wasn't a very good judge of character."_

Sam accepted that answer for the time being. Lizzie was slowly beginning to open up to him.

"_Well, maybe you've improved since then," _said Sam with a warm tone.

"_Maybe I have," _said Lizzie.

There came several bangs on the door. Sam jumped and opened his eyes.

"Sam, get out!" Dean shouted. "I gotta take a leak!"

"_I gotta go, Lizzie,"_ said Sam. _"I'll talk to you later."_

"_See you later, Sam," _said Lizzie.

"Hang on!" Sam shouted back to Dean.

Sam pulled himself out of the tub, somehow figuring out how to use the tail to help push him out. He fell onto the floor as quietly as he could. Sam forced the water off his body and out of his tail, slipping his shirt back on. Not wanting Dean to see what he'd been doing, Sam pulled the water from the tub with his mind, pushing it as far down on the floor as he could get. Stepping in front of it, Sam unlocked the door and opened it.

"Finally," Dean muttered, stepping past Sam into the bathroom.

In the darkness, Dean didn't see when Sam made the water swirl out into the main room.

"All yours," said Sam, closing the door.

He looked over at the big ball of water near the floor. He walked to the door and opened it, making the water fly out onto the pavement. He closed the door and decided to take a quick nap.

************************************************SPN**************************************************

Sam was shaken awake, and he looked up to see Dean standing by his bed.

"I thought you got some sleep when I did," Dean pointed out.

"I was just resting my eyes," said Sam, sitting up.

"Yeah, well, you were resting your eyes for two hours," said Dean.

"That's not so long," Sam defended himself.

Dean sat on the other bed, giving Sam a hard look.

Sam swung his legs over the bed so he was facing at Dean. "What?"

"The plug was in the shower drain," Dean told him. "Now, I don't take baths, so unless you were putting together an aquarium…"

"Dean…" muttered Sam.

"You were talking to her this morning, weren't you?" asked Dean.

"Dean, we're supposed to be getting close to the colony," Sam mentioned.

"I know that," said Dean. "I'm just wondering why you had to hide it. So, what'd she say? You in yet?"

"Dean, it's gonna take longer than two conversations to get to the colony," said Sam.

"Alright, but what did she say?" asked Dean.

"Well, she asked how I got turned, and then we talked about her hobbies," Sam told him.

Dean's eyebrows rose. "That's it?"

"Well, that's when you so rudely interrupted," Sam told him, getting out of bed.

"Fine, fine," said Dean. "Be that way." He stood up, heading for the door. "Let's get some lunch."

Sam shook his head as Dean headed out to the Impala. Throwing on some jeans, he followed Dean out the door to the thankfully rain-free day.

****************************************SPN************************************************************

Sam lay on his bed after lunch, taking the extra free time to relax for a change.

"Hey, I'm gonna head to the Phillips 66 up the road," said Dean, grabbing his leather jacket. "Impala's getting low."

"Alright," said Sam.

Dean grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Sam glanced over at the door as he heard the Impala's engine turn on. Sam stood and walked to the window, watching as Dean pulled the Impala out of the parking spot and headed to the parking lot exit. Sam waited until the Impala was out on the road, headed for the gas station. Sam pulled out his cell phone. He figured enough time for Dean to get there, fill up, grab some snacks and a six-pack, chat up the counter girl and drive back.

"Twenty-five minutes ought to do it," Sam muttered to himself, setting the timer for twenty as he headed for the bathroom.

Sam filled the tub, taking off everything but his boxers and climbing in waist-first. When he was completely in mer form, Sam closed his eyes to block everything out.

"_Lizzie, you there?" _Sam asked.

"_Always," _Lizzie answered. _"'Cause, you know, I have nothing better to do than wait around and talk to you."_

She and Sam laughed, Sam savoring her adorable giggle.

"_If you were talking to my brother, he'd probably make some narcissistic little comment right about now," _said Sam.

Lizzie giggled again. _"Yeah, well, he's not the one I'm talking to, is he?"_

Sam smiled. _"No, he's not. So, tell me about your sister."_

"_Her name is Lori," _she told him.

Sam chuckled. _"Lori and Lizzie?"_

"_Well, it's actually Lori and Elizabeth, but…" _Lizzie giggled. _"Lori is…she's Lori. You know, what can I say? She's taken care of me my entire life. I don't know what I would do without her."_

"_I know what you mean," _said Sam. _"It's the same way with Dean. He's very overprotective, too."_

"_Lori wouldn't even listen when I said she didn't have to turn herself," _said Lizzie. _"She insisted."_

Sam laughed. _"Okay, now that definitely sounds familiar."_

"_What about you?" _asked Lizzie. _"What's your story?"_

"_Well, my brother and I have been hunting since I was a baby," _Sam told her. _"Our mother was killed by a demon, so our father raised us as hunters."_

"_Oh, I'm so sorry," _Lizzie sighed.

"_It's okay," _said Sam. _"I mean, yeah, I miss her, but I was just too young to remember her. We never got to know each other."_

"_That's too bad. I'm sure she would be proud of the man you've become."_

Sam smiled. _"Thank you." _He was silent for a while. _"What about your parents?"_

Lizzie hesitated, but then seemed to decide to trust Sam. _"They left when I was three. Lori and I have been bouncing around between different foster homes ever since. We finally ran away when I was fifteen."_

"_How old is Lizzie?"_

"_She's a year older than me. She took care of me for two years before I got turned and then…" _She froze, silent for a while.

"_It's okay. You don't have to tell me."_

Lizzie was silent for another minute. _"Then Cody happened."_

_A guy,_ Sam thought. _I thought that's what it must've been._

"_He, uh, promised to be with me, and then he left," _Lizzie told him shortly.

Sam could tell there was more to the story, but he didn't press it any further.

"_So…you like the ocean lifestyle?"_ asked Sam.

Lizzie audibly brightened at the subject change. _"Oh, yes, it's so out of this world. I can't imagine anything better."_

Something started beeping, and Sam opened his eyes to see his cell phone timer going off.

"_I'll have to catch up with you later," _Sam told Lizzie as he pulled the plug up on the drain.

"_Okay," _said Lizzie. _"Talk to you later."_

"_Yeah," _said Sam, pulling himself out of the draining water.

Sam mentally dried himself off, grabbing his phone and turning off the timer. He grabbed his jeans, pulling them on. Grabbing his shirt, he opened the bathroom door to see Dean sitting comfortably on the bed opposite the door.

Sam froze in the doorway. "Dean…"

"Guy was working the counter today," said Dean, taking in Sam's wet hair. "You were talking to her again, weren't you?"

"Um…" Sam looked down at the floor, his face reddening.

"Sam, you don't have to hide this from me," said Dean, standing and slapping Sam on the shoulder. "It's part of the plan, remember? What I don't understand is why you need to talk to her so much."

"Trust building," Sam simply stated.

Dean looked at him a little funny. "Yeah, alright." He walked over to the six-pack and tossed Sam a beer.

Sam looked at it warily. "I better not. You never know what's in this stuff." He set his down on the dresser.

"True," shrugged Dean, drinking from his own. "Anyway, Bobby called. He's coming straight here to help out."

"Help out?" asked Sam. "With what?"

"The cure," Dean told him. "Just in case."

Sam shrugged. "Alright."

"What she say this time?" asked Dean.

"Nothing important," said Sam. "Just getting to know each other."

"Well, you better get a move on. We need to get back to soul saving, here."

Sam smiled, shaking his head.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

After dinner, Sam settled into the tub, relaxing in his mer form in the water. _"You know, this telepathic talk thing is getting easier."_

"_Hey, Sam," _said Lizzie. _"You stopping by tonight?"_

"_Definitely," _said Sam. _"Probably around midnight."_

"_That sounds great," _said Lizzie. _"I'll be there waiting for you."_

"_How has today been for you?" _asked Sam.

"_Good," _said Lizzie. _"Went swimming with dolphins."_

Sam chuckled. _"That sounds like fun."_

"_It is," _said Lizzie. _"I'll take you tonight."_

"_Sounds great,"_ said Sam. He hesitated, wanting to ask her what he'd been wondering all day. _"Hey, Lizzie, can I ask you something?"_

"_Sure," _said Lizzie.

"_Have you ever come back on land since you got turned?" _asked Sam.

Lizzie hesitated. _"Twice…Back when I first got turned. I haven't been back since."_

"_Would you like to come with me after tonight?" _asked Sam. _"Just for a little while?"_ He didn't want to push her too much.

Lizzie was quiet for so long, Sam thought she had left.

"_Sure," _replied Lizzie.

"_Really?"_ asked Sam.

"_Yeah," _said Lizzie. _"Sounds like fun. But, um…I'm gonna need some clothes or something."_

"_Yeah, sure thing," _Sam assured her. _"I'll bring some."_

"_Thank you," _said Lizzie.

"_No problem," _said Sam.

"Sam!" Dean called from outside the door, knocking on it.

_Crap!_ Sam thought. "Hang on, Dean!"

"_I gotta go, Lizzie," _said Sam. _"See you tonight."_

"_See ya," _said Lizzie.

"Sam, you better be having some private man time in there," called Dean through the door. "If you are talking to that girl again…"

"You'll, what?" Sam called as he pulled himself out of the tub and onto the floor. "You'll ground me?"

"I'll do the next best thing," called Dean. "I'll take away your laptop."

Sam mentally dried himself off. "Aren't I supposed to be getting close to this colony so they can cure me?"

"Yes, but that doesn't require this much fraternizing."

Sam stood up, pulling the plug on the drain. "Fraternizing? We're just talking."

"Yeah," said Dean. "**All the time**."

Sam pulled his shirt and pants on. "She's a nice person, Dean. I'm just trying to be friendly."

"No, this is more than friendly," said Dean. He paused for a moment. "You're sweet on her, aren't you?"

Sam opened the bathroom door to see Dean with a slight smile on his face. "No, I'm not."

Dean laughed out loud, smiling triumphantly. "You are! I knew it! That's the look you get when you're talking about a girl you like! You're so into her!"

Sam rolled his eyes, walking past Dean. "That's not what this is about."

"Yeah, right," said Dean. "Hey, man, to each his own. If mermaids and werewolves turn you on, then…" He broke off right there, realizing what he was saying, just as Sam glanced up sadly at him. "Oh, man, I'm sorry, Sammy. I didn't mean it."

"It's okay," said Sam shortly.

Even though it had been a year since Madison, Sam was still not completely over it. And he might never be. How many of his girlfriends had to keep dying?

"No, really," apologized Dean. "That was stupid of me."

"Really," said Sam, smiling at him in reassurance. "It's fine."

"So, anyway, what's the story?" asked Dean.

"We're meeting her around midnight," Sam told him. "And we need to bring some clothes for her. She's gonna come with us tomorrow."

"Really?" asked Dean, frowning.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" asked Sam. "She's showing me her world, I'm showing her mine."

"Alright, but you get the clothes," said Dean. "I'm not really tuned into my feminine side."

"And I am?" asked Sam.

"Damn right," said Dean with a smile.

********************************************************************SPN*****************************************************************************

"I promise we won't take as long this time," Sam told Dean as they approached the dock.

"You better not," muttered Dean.

They heard a splash and saw Lizzie propping her elbows up on the dock, smiling at Sam. Sam smiled, his face lighting up as he stared at her.

Dean chuckled a little. "Yeah, you're not into her at all."

Sam shoved an elbow into Dean's ribs, walking over to the edge of the dock. "Just wait here, Dean."

"Where else am I gonna go?" asked Dean, plopping the duffel full of Lizzie's clothes next to a bench and sitting down.

Sam shed his outer clothing and boots, dumping them next to the bench. Lizzie shot away from the edge of the dock with a giggle. Sam smiled as he dove straight in, making a big splash. Dean waited for him to resurface as Lizzie did also. Lizzie looked around in confusion. Lizzie suddenly gasped as she got pulled under. Lizzie came bobbing up a few seconds later, splashing at Sam, who was laughing and splashing back.

Dean smiled and shook his head in fondness. _You're so naïve, Sammy. You are __**so**__ into her._

He watched as Sam dodged a splash and darted over the wall into the ocean, his tail shining in the moonlight. Lizzie quickly followed him. Dean leaned back on the bench, waiting for their little adventure to end.

*************************************************************************SPN**************************************************************************************

Sam glanced over at Lizzie, smiling. Lizzie had her eyes closed, reveling in the feel of the current in her hair.

_Oh, man,_ Sam thought. _She is so beautiful. And her smile…and her laugh…_

Sam came to a sudden realization that Dean was right: he liked Lizzie.

"_Here they come!"_ cried Lizzie in excitement.

Sam looked up to see a small school of dolphins—about six, or so—heading their way. He and Lizzie pulled up short as the dolphins approached them. The dolphins spun around them, clicking away with their echolocation sounds. A dolphin brushed up under Sam's arm, rubbing against his torso—much like a cat trying to get your attention. He laughed and looked up at Lizzie to see her petting two of the dolphins.

The dolphin came back, rubbing up against Sam's arm again. Sam started petting the dolphin, and another one came up to be petted. Another dolphin was still circling them, darting back and forth between Sam and Lizzie. Sam gave Lizzie a questioning look.

"_He wants to play," _Lizzie giggled.

Sam smiled. _"Then let's play."_ He darted away, speeding off up to the surface.

Lizzie giggled and took off after him. The dolphins weren't far behind. Sam zoomed toward the surface, breaking through the barrier and soaring into the air. He dived back under, building up speed before heading up again. This time, two dolphins jumped with him. Lizzie was about ten feet off, with her own dolphin jumpers. They spent a while trying to see who could jump the highest and what crazy tricks they could do before Lizzie started leading him down to the ocean floor.

"_I want you to meet everyone," _Lizzie told him.

Sam edged a little closer to her. _"I'd love to."_

They swam along the ocean floor for a while before it dropped off, and they were swimming over a cavern. In that cavern was what looked like a primitive version of the lost city of Atlantis. Little clay-stone dwellings were scattered all over the cavern floor.

"_This is amazing," _said Sam.

Lizzie smiled and led him down into the heart of the city. She led him to a small hut and told him to wait outside. As she went inside to get her sister, Sam watched mermaids and mermen swim by, staring at him. Sam waved awkwardly, feeling like the new kid at school.

"_Sam,"_ said Lizzie.

Sam turned to see Lizzie next to a green-scaled mermaid with hazel eyes and brown hair.

"_This is my sister Lori," _Lizzie introduced. _"Lori, this is Sam."_

"_Hi, Sam," _said Lori, shaking his hand. _"It's good to finally meet you. Lizzie hasn't shut up about you."_

"_Lori!" _hissed Lizzie.

"_She hasn't?"_ said Sam, smiling at Lizzie.

Lizzie blushed and looked away from him. _"Um, Sam, I'll go introduce you to the Elders."_

"_Okay," _said Sam.

Lizzie rushed off in embarrassment, but Lori's hand on Sam's arm stopped him before he could follow.

"_Thank you," _said Lori.

Sam frowned. _"For what?"_

"_For caring for Lizzie," _said Lori.

"_Well, I—I don't—" _stammered Sam.

Lori laughed a little. _"It's okay. I see the way you look at her. You have been so good for Lizzie. I don't know how much she told you, but she was hurt pretty bad. She hasn't allowed herself to get close to anyone in a long time. I hope she finds what she's looking for in you."_

Sam smiled. _"Thank you."_

Lori looked hard into his eyes. _"But if you hurt her…I will hunt you down and do the same. You got me?"_

Sam smiled fondly, recognizing the elder sibling in her. _"Yes, ma'am."_

Lizzie swam back to them. _"What's going on?"_

"_Oh, Lori's been telling me embarrassing sister stories, that's all," _Sam replied.

Lori gave him a grateful look.

Lizzie shoved her sister. _"Lori!"_

Lori laughed. _"Hey, the boy has a right to know what he's getting into."_

Lizzie rolled her eyes. _"C'mon, Sam. Let's leave Lori to her fantasies." _She swam off.

Sam smiled and nodded at Lori before following Lizzie. She led him to a larger "building." They swam inside, where five older merpeople were waiting.

"_Hello, Elizabeth," _said one of the mermen. _"To what do we owe this pleasure?"_

"_I wanted you to meet Sam," _said Lizzie. _"He's the novice."_

A mermaid nodded. _"Ah, yes, Samuel. We've been waiting for you."_

"_You know of us, don't you?" _asked a merman.

Sam frowned, confused as to what he meant.

"_You are a hunter, no?"_ asked a mermaid. _"You knew of our existence before you were turned."_

Sam hesitated before nodding. _"Yes."_

"_See?" _said a merman. _"This is a trap! He is here to kill us all!"_

"_No!" _said Lizzie. _"He is a good man! He did kill Amanda, but he saved me from a mortal with a camera!"_

They murmured at that.

The first merman to speak approached Sam and raised one hand. _"With your permission?"_

Sam nodded. The merman placed a palm against the side of Sam's head and closed his eyes. Sam felt an electric hum inside his head. They stayed that way for a moment.

The merman opened his eyes. _"She is right. He is a pure soul. He means no harm." _He held his hand out. _"I am William."_

"_Hi," _said Sam, shaking his hand in relief.

"_This is Victoria," _said William, introducing the Elders. _"James, Debra, and the rude one is Brett."_

"_Nice to meet you," _said Sam.

"_And you," _said William. _"We hope to see you soon. Have a good day."_

"_You, too," _said Sam.

"_Come on," _said Lizzie. _"I wanna see your world."_

Sam smiled as he led her towards shore.

**************************************************************************SPN*******************************************************************

"Hey, kid."

Dean looked up to see Bobby come sit next to him. "How'd you find us?"

"I'm just that good," said Bobby with a smile.

They looked back out towards the water.

"How long since Sam left?" asked Bobby.

Dean glanced at his watch. "About three hours now."

"So, how's it going?" asked Bobby. "He found the colony yet?"

"Not yet," said Dean. "He's still trying to befriend his mermaid girlfriend."

Bobby looked at him. "Girlfriend?"

"Well, he denies it, but I see the way he looks at her," said Dean. "And you should see how much he talks to her. It's kind of annoying, actually."

"Well, maybe that's the best way into the colony," said Bobby, shrugging.

"Yeah, maybe," said Dean. He narrowed his eyes, staring into the harbor. "Here they come now."

Bobby watched as two figures splashed through the water towards the dock area. Lizzie leaped over the wall first, closely followed by Sam. The two of them surfaced, laughing.

"I totally beat you," Lizzie giggled.

"Yeah, 'cause you're used to this," said Sam. "Race me on land, and we'll see who wins."

Lizzie turned towards the dock to greet Dean, and her laughter and smile froze, disappearing. She eyed Bobby fearfully before diving back under. Sam quickly went under after her.

"She's kinda jumpy," Dean told Bobby. "We didn't know you'd be here."

Lizzie and Sam resurfaced, and Lizzie looked apologetically at Bobby. She and Sam swam to the dock's edge.

"Hi," said Lizzie.

"Hi," said Bobby, waving. "I'm Bobby."

"Lizzie," she said.

Sam turned to her. "You ready?"

"Yeah…I think…" said Lizzie.

Sam grabbed onto the dock and hoisted himself up onto it. Bobby stared in amazement at Sam's mer form. Sam flopped his tail up on the dock and proceeded to concentrate. The water flowed off of him in tiny rivers and onto the dock, running off into the water. His scales slowly disappeared, and his legs grew back. Sam grabbed his jeans and slipped them on quickly. Dean held his hand out to Lizzie, and she grabbed it. Together, they hoisted her up onto the dock. Lizzie looked up at them, blushing.

"What is it?" asked Sam.

"Um…you've managed to change with clothes on, but…I don't have any on," Lizzie explained.

Sam nodded in understanding and knelt down next to her. He grabbed her up in his arms, using his hydrokinesis to keep himself dry, and headed towards the abandoned building. He set her in one of the rooms.

"I'll go get your clothes," Sam told her.

"Got 'em," said Dean from behind Sam. He put the bag beside Lizzie and headed out.

Sam followed him, and they all waited outside. Sam put the rest of his clothes on. Five minutes later, Lizzie walked out of the building, wearing jeans, a black V-neck short-sleeve shirt, a brown cargo jacket, and black boots. She stood leaning against the doorway.

"Does everything fit?" Sam asked her.

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah, it's just—" She took a step forward and collapsed onto the ground.

Sam rushed forward. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Lizzie. "It's just been a while."

"Here," said Sam, holding his hands out.

Lizzie grabbed onto his arms, and he helped her to stand. She looked down at her legs as she took a few small, tentative steps.

"Good," coached Sam. "That's good."

"Sammy…" said Dean.

"Yeah?" asked Sam, helping Lizzie take a couple more steps towards the Impala.

"You might want to get her to move faster," said Dean.

Sam froze, looking up at him. "Why?"

Dean was staring off into the distance. "We got company."

Sam followed his gaze towards the entrance to the dock. A pick-up truck as entering the parking lot, heading straight for them.

"Move!" hissed Sam, moving a little faster.

Lizzie stumbled on her feet, grasping at him. "Sam!"

Sam scooped her up, running towards the Impala, as Dean and Bobby ducked down behind it. Sam darted behind the Impala, holding Lizzie close. Dean peeked up over the hood of the car. The pick-up truck came to a stop. There was a huge cage in the bed of the truck. Two men jumped out, holding jars of salt and what looked like iron crowbars.

Dean looked down at Sam and Lizzie. "Bounty hunters."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Sam listened intently, positive that Lizzie was doing the same.

"And you're sure about this?" asked one man.

"I got my sources," said the other. "Trust me, there's mermaids."

"Alright, let's just hurry before whoever owns those two cars comes back."

"You got it."

Sam looked at Dean. "You're right. Bounty hunters."

"What?" asked Dean in a whisper.

"I said, you're right," whispered Sam.

"Yeah, how do you know that?" asked Dean.

"They're talking about hunting mermaids," Sam told him.

"You can hear them?" Dean asked him.

"Mermaids senses, remember?" Sam pointed out.

"Well, let's get out of here," said Dean. "They're gone."

Sam grabbed Dean's arm as he began to stand. "Wait."

Sam listened closely as their footsteps grew more and more faint. He heard the telltale thud of boots on wood and knew they were now in the building.

"Go, quietly," Sam hissed.

Dean eased the driver's door open, sliding into the seat, as Sam stood with Lizzie. Bobby opened the back door, and Sam carefully put Lizzie inside, scooting in next to her.

"Don't peel out of here," Sam told both Bobby and Dean. "Make it look like you just got back to the car."

"Duh," said Dean, starting the Impala.

Bobby closed the door and headed to his car. Dean led the Impala out towards the road, and Bobby followed him. Sam turned to see if the hunters were watching them or even following.

Sam sighed in relief. "We're clear."

"How did they know?" asked Lizzie.

"Probably the kid with the camera spreading stories," grumbled Dean.

"It doesn't matter," said Sam. "Dean or Bobby can keep an eye to see when it's safe to go back."

Dean glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "We can?"

Sam sent him a glare.

Dean nodded at Lizzie. "Yes, we can…apparently."

"Don't worry," Sam told Lizzie. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Sam knew Lizzie must have been scared. Her first time back on land in almost five years, and bounty hunters come after her. She was practically shaking as she looked up at Sam with wide eyes. Sam lifted one arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her close.

"I promise," Sam assured as he held her.

Lizzie rested her head against Sam's chest, closing her eyes. Dean watched in the rearview mirror for a second before looking back at the road, smiling a little.

********************************************************************SPN****************************************************************************************************

"You haven't eaten regular food in four years?" asked Dean in surprise.

Lizzie shook her head. "I haven't been on land, so I haven't eaten at restaurants or anything."

The four of them had spent a couple hours or so in the motel room, re-teaching Lizzie how to walk. They had headed for an early breakfast at seven.

"What did you eat?" asked Sam.

"Seaweed, crab, a lot of fish," replied Lizzie.

"Isn't that cannibalism, in a way?" Dean pointed out.

"Not technically," said Lizzie. "It's nature. Like the way lions eat gazelle or zebra. Other land mammals, but not same species."

Dean shrugged. "That makes sense." He looked down at the menu and glanced up at Lizzie. "How'd it taste, you know, raw?"

Lizzie shrugged. "Not bad. Kinda fishy."

Sam laughed, looking up at a smiling Dean.

"That's funny, actually," said Dean. "Well, I recommend the omelet. Top it with onions, peppers, cheese, ham, bacon—"

"Dude," said Sam. "She's not you."

Dean shrugged. "Hey, first time eating human food. Gotta start with the best."

Sam rolled his eyes and looked at Lizzie. "What breakfast foods did you used to like?"

"Um…French toast was my favorite," said Lizzie.

"Perfect," said Sam. "Strawberries or blueberries on top?"

Lizzie's face lit up. "Strawberries and bananas."

Sam smiled. "Sounds good."

The waitress walked up to their table. "What can I get you folks?"

"I'll have the bacon cheese omelet with ham, onions and peppers," Dean told her, smirking at Sam.

"I'll just take the scrambled eggs and sausage breakfast," said Bobby.

"Toast or hashbrowns?" asked the waitress.

"Hashbrowns," said Bobby.

"And for you two?" she asked Sam and Lizzie.

"French toast with strawberries, bananas and whip cream," said Lizzie.

Sam smiled at her and looked at the waitress. "I'll have the same. But for ours…"

The waitress stopped writing and looked at him.

"No salt on or in anything," said Sam. "We are both extremely allergic."

"Huh," said the waitress, putting a hand on her hip and cocking her head curiously to the side. "There's a salt allergy? I've never heard of that before."

"Technically, it's hypersensitivity to salt," Sam told her. "But we're so sensitive that it's like an allergy. All we know is we can't have it."

"That's interesting," said the waitress. "I will make sure they don't put any on." She headed off to place their order.

"Thank you so much," Lizzie told Sam. "I completely forgot about that."

"We're real careful about the salt," Dean told her. "They put salt in Sammy's potatoes a few days ago. He almost suffocated."

"I did not suffocate," said Sam.

"I said almost," said Dean.

"I didn't **almost** suffocate," said Sam. "I just got a little dehydrated."

"A little?" laughed Dean. "Dude, you practically dunked your head in the toilet to get water!"

Sam rolled his eyes and turned to Lizzle. "Ignore him. He likes to make jokes to make himself look good."

Dean leaned conspiratorially towards Lizzie. "That wasn't a joke."

Lizzie giggled.

"I did not put my head in the toilet," Sam growled at Dean.

"No, just in the sink," Dean said.

"At least you went into the bathroom," Lizzie told Sam. "The first time I accidentally ate salt, I ran straight for the tap at the bar."

Sam laughed out loud. "What'd you do after that?"

Lizzie blushed. "Ran out and jumped in the pool of the motel next door."

Sam's eyes widened. "You just jumped in?"

"It was, like, midnight," said Lizzie. "Everyone was asleep."

Dean laughed. "I take it back, Sammy. **She's** the crazy one."

Lizzie giggled as Sam smiled bracingly at Dean.

**************************************************************SPN**************************************************************

Sam knocked on the bathroom door that afternoon. "Lizzie?"

"Come in," came Lizzie's voice.

Sam opened the door to find her in the full tub. He smiled. "Feel better?"

Lizzie sighed. "Much." She put her arms up on the sides of the tub. "I never realize how much I would miss being in the water. But it's my home now."

Sam nodded a little, slightly uncomfortable at how she called it home. Here was this girl who he was starting to fall for, and she was maybe starting to fall for him, too, and yet they wanted to live in two separate worlds…and she didn't know it yet. She didn't know that he didn't want to stay.

Sam squatted down next to the tub, crossing his arms on the lip of it. "Have you always felt that way?"

"You mean since I turned?" asked Lizzie.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"Sort of," said Lizzie. She hesitated, clearly nervous about her story.

Sam slid his arm forward, gently grabbing hold of her hand.

Lizzie looked up at him, staring into his eyes. "It was Cody."

Sam got his legs out from under him and sat next to the tub, getting comfortable.

"We met at a bookstore," Lizzie's story began. "We both reached for a Sherlock Holmes book." She shook her head. "I should have known it was just a pick-up technique. We started dating, and he was being vague about where he came from, how old he was, stuff like that. One night, he finally told me he was a merman. I, of course, laughed, thinking he was joking. But then we went down to the beach, and he showed me."

Lizzie smiled at Sam. "I was so thrilled that he would share something that huge with me. He must really be in love with me." She looked down into the water. "I shouldn't have let him in like that." She looked up sheepishly at Sam. "He was the first guy I'd ever liked like that."

Sam nodded thoughtfully, silently urging her to go on.

"A couple days later, I asked him to turn me," said Lizzie. "That way, we could be together forever. I mean, all I had in the human world was Lori, and I could still visit her this way. All I knew was I loved Cody. We spent the first few weeks going back and forth between water and land, having the time of our lives. After a month…we finally…you know."

Sam nodded, telling her that he knew and she didn't need to explain.

Lizzie looked back down at the water. "Two months later…I found out I was pregnant.

Sam suddenly pieced everything together in his head.

"I went to tell Cody, and I…" Lizzie hesitated, tears beginning to fall down her face. "I found him making out with a mortal."

Sam gripped her hand tighter.

"I ran straight to Lori and told her everything," said Lizzie. "That's when she insisted on coming with me."

Sam waited for a good moment. "What happened to the baby?"

Lizzie smiled. "She went to a family of merpeople…after we went back to the ocean."

"Back?" asked Sam.

"Mermaids with child stay on land during the pregnancy and birth," Lizzie explained. "For obvious reasons. When she was born," she giggled softly, "I named her Ariel."

Sam laughed with her. "Perfect name."

"Yeah…" said Lizzie, staring absently at the tiles ahead of her. "She turned four a couple months ago…" She laughed, looking down at her red hair and black scales. "Her hair is black, and her tail is red."

Sam laughed with her.

He was beginning to understand what was going on with them. True, they had crushes on each other, but it wasn't actually love. Sam liked her, but it wasn't like what he had felt for Jess or Madison. He didn't really see a future in it. And Lizzie…well, Sam was the first guy since Cody that was actually kind to her. He was probably only the second guy that she liked in her whole life. It was just a rebound; a late rebound, but still.

"Sam?" Dean called from the main room. "Lizzie?"

"We're in here!" Sam called.

Footsteps approached the bathroom, and Dean appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets.

Dean eyed Lizzie soaking in the tub. "Well, looks like that 'alligators in the sewer' story isn't that far off."

"If I was an alligator, you'd be screaming right now," Lizzie told him.

Dean shook his head a little. "Dean Winchester does not scream."

"The hunt on Flight 424 notwithstanding," Sam pointed out.

"That was not screaming," Dean told him. "That was yelling like a man. There's a difference."

"Sure there is," Sam muttered. Before Dean could argue with him, Sam said, "What'd you and Bobby find out?"

Dean sighed. "You two better batten down the hatches."

Sam frowned at him.

"They're setting up a post in that building, waiting for mermaids," Dean told them.

Sam looked at Lizzie. "You better let your sister know so she can tell the others to stay away from there."

Lizzie nodded and stared at the wall in front of her, speaking to Lori telepathically.

Sam glanced up at Dean. "What do you think? Should we do something?"

"Do something?" said Dean.

Sam glared at him. "Dean, these people are innocent, and these bounty hunters are gonna do hell knows what to them."

"Yeah, so, we're just gonna go bust some heads and let them know that there definitely is something worth protecting here?" Dean asked. "If we leave them alone, and you two and the rest of them don't go near that dock, they'll assume the camera kid was drunk or something."

Sam thought about that for a second. "That's actually a good idea."

Dean smirked. "You say that like I never have good ideas."

Sam shrugged, and Dean glared at him.

***************************************************************************SPN********************************************************************************************

Lizzie stayed in their room that night. Sam gave her his bed and slept on the floor. Sam hopped into the tub first thing in the morning for about half an hour. The whole 'drying' process was getting easier and easier, just like the telepathic conversations had.

Sam emerged from the bathroom to find Dean and Lizzie talking.

"You didn't!" said Lizzie.

"I did!" laughed Dean. "Baldie never saw it coming."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you're not telling her about the Nair in the shampoo."

"Alright," said Dean, looking at him. "I'm not telling her about the Nair in the shampoo."

Lizzie giggled.

"Very funny," muttered Sam.

"Dean's been telling me all about your childhood," Lizzie told him.

"Of course he has," said Sam. "'Cause that's where all the humiliating stories are."

"Damn right," said Dean. "You're just not as embarrassing as you used to be, Sammy."

"Thank God for that," said Sam, grabbing a jacket. "Let's go get some breakfast."

*************************************************************************SPN*****************************************************************************************

That afternoon after Lizzie's soak, Sam and Lizzie were walking through the park while Dean and Bobby went to case the dock.

"So, Lori's still safe?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Lizzie. "Everyone is. Do you think those hunters will ever leave?"

"I'd give it one more day before they give up," Sam told her.

Lizzie smiled. "And then we can go back home." She wrapped an arm around Sam's arm, leaning into him.

Sam winced a little. "Uh, Lizzie…" He stopped, turning towards her.

Lizzie looked up at him.

"As fun as that sounds, my home is here…with my brother," Sam told her, bracing for some tears or something.

"Oh, it's okay," Lizzie said with a smile. "I'll visit him with you."

"No, it's—" Sam began, wanting to let her down easy. "I'm still human. And my brother needs me."

"I know exactly what you mean," said Lizzie. "I'm still human, too. And my sister needs me also."

"But my brother is here…in the human world," Sam told her gently.

Lizzie frowned. "What are you saying, Sam?"

Sam sighed, taking her hands in his. "Lizzie…I can't stay like this. I need to go back."

Lizzie slowly shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"My brother is in trouble right now," Sam told her. "He needs me to help him, and if I stay like this, I can't. I am so sorry, Liz—"

Lizzie wrenched her hands out of Sam's grasp, a tear falling down her face. "That's what Cody said…"

Sam knew how this had to look: just as Cody ditched her for a mortal girl, now Sam was ditching her for the mortal world.

"Lizzie…my brother needs me," Sam told her. "He's dying. I—"

"Don't!" said Lizzie, shaking her head as more tears fell. "I should have known…" She took off running towards the park entrance.

"Lizzie!" Sam called. "Lizzie, wait!" He began to run after her.

Lizzie raised a hand up, and the fountain exploded. The water barreled onto the path where Sam was. With hunter/merman reflexes, Sam jumped backwards and avoided most of the water. There was just some that splashed onto his jacket. Sam looked up to see Lizzie vanish out of the park gate. Clearly, she didn't want Sam to follow, so Sam didn't. After all, she knew she couldn't go back to the dock yet, so she would just lay low on land somewhere. He just needed to give her some space right now.

********************************************************************SPN*************************************************************************

Dean walked into the motel room to find Sam sitting at the table. "Lizzie soaking **again**?"

"No," said Sam.

Dean closed the door, seeing how miserable Sam looked. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Sam told him.

Dean froze, staring at Sam wide-eyed. "You don't know? The mermaid patrol is on the clock, and you lose Ariel?"

"She knows not to head back to the water until it's safe," Sam told him.

"What happened?" asked Dean, sitting at the table.

"I told her about wanting to get cured," Sam said. "She took it kind of personally. She left."

"And you're sure she's not gonna head to that dock?" asked Dean.

"Yeah," said Sam. "She knows how dangerous that is."

"That's good," said Dean.

Even so, Sam couldn't help but feel in the back of his mind that Lizzie would do anything right now. This all was a flashback to Cody, dredging up all those memories and feelings. Who knew what she would do right now.

************************************************************************SPN*****************************************************************************************

The next day, Sam went to answer the door, finding Lori standing on the motel doorstep.

"Lori?" Sam exclaimed. "What are you doing here? The bounty hunters could have seen you!"

"They're not there anymore," Lori told him.

"Oh," said Sam. "That's good."

"Probably not," said Lori.

Sam frowned. "Why?"

"Lizzie's missing," said Lori.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Wait, what do you mean she's missing?" asked Sam.

"Who's missing?" Dean asked, walking up to the door.

"Lizzie," said Lori. "She hasn't talked to me today."

"Well, maybe she's just upset," Sam told her, thinking about how upset he made Lizzie. "She probably just needs time to herself."

Lori narrowed her eyes at Sam, stepping up towards him. "What did you do?"

Sam swallowed nervously. "Nothing. Nothing happened."

"Oh, something happened, alright," growled Lori, "or you would know where she is. What…did…you…do?"

Sam looked up at Dean, who shrugged. He looked back down at Lori. "I…might have told her that I wanted to go back to human."

Lori's eyes widened. "You, what? Are you insane?"

"That was my plan all along," Sam told her hurriedly. "I have other work that I need to do. I tried telling her—"

Lori brought a hand up and slapped Sam across the face. Sam froze, looking down at the floor.

"How dare you…" Lori told him. "You have no idea what Liz has been through."

Sam looked at her. "Yes, I do. I knew what a hard blow it would be for her, but I had to tell her before she got her hopes up."

"Clearly, she already did," Lori growled. "You knew, and you still told her?"

"I had no choice!" Sam told her.

"People!" Dean yelled.

They looked at him.

"Could we focus on the problem at hand?" said Dean. He looked at Lori. "She's probably just upset at Sam and hiding. Or she found out the hunters were gone, and she's hiding in the ocean somewhere. Let's not jump to conclusions."

"We promised each other that we would talk every day by at least one o'clock," Lori told them. "It's 2:15. That's our deal whenever we're separated. We've looked out for each other our whole lives. Even if she was upset, she would at least tell me she was okay. That coupled with the hunters missing…Something's wrong."

"Okay," said Sam. "Come on, let's head down to the dock and see if we can find a trail."

The three of them piled into the Impala, and Dean sped down to the dock. They rushed out, heading for the water's edge. The place was completely clean.

"Wait," said Sam. He turned his head, frowning. "You smell that?"

"Yeah," said Lori, looking around for the source also.

"Smell what?" asked Dean.

"It's kind of…coppery," said Lori.

They all looked at each other, knowing what that meant. Sam and Lori followed the smell towards the building.

"There," said Sam, pointing.

Just inside the door were a couple splatters of blood.

Lori knelt next to it. "It's hers."

"How do you know?" asked Dean.

Sam put his finger in the blood, emerging with two small black scales. "Alright, they couldn't have gotten far. Lori and I will track the scent. Dean, you and Bobby search any place in town that could store her."

"On it," said Dean, jumping into the Impala and tearing out of the lot.

"Come on," said Sam. He and Lori began following the smell of blood.

"If anything happens to her, I swear—" Lori began.

"It won't," Sam said adamantly. "I promised Lizzie nothing would happen to her. I am not breaking that promise. I will bring her home."

Lori looked up at him. "So, what's so important that you have to ditch us?"

Sam winced at how she put it. "My brother and I are hunting down a demon that holds Dean's contract. Dean made a demon deal to save my life, and he's going to die in a couple months if we don't break it. I can't just abandon him."

Lori looked down at her shoes as they walked. "The Elders will have the cure."

Sam looked at her. "What?"

"If there is a cure, the Elders will have it," said Lori. She looked up at Sam. "You should help your brother. He needs you. Just like Lizzie needs me. I can understand that."

Sam looked at her gratefully. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," said Lori. "We don't know if there is a cure or not."

"You don't?" asked Sam.

"Well, if there is, it's never been used," said Lori. "I mean, every merperson has become that way by choice, or by accident and enjoyed it. We've never had someone who actually wanted to go back. And don't forget, you still have to patch things up with Lizzie…if we ever find her."

"We'll find her," said Sam.

They came to a stop at an intersection.

"I lost the smell," said Sam frustratingly.

"Me, too," said Lori.

"They've loaded her into a truck," said Sam, "which means that we can't track her."

"What do we do now?" asked Lori.

Sam turned to her. "Don't worry. We're pretty good at this stuff. Come on, let's get back to the room."

********************************************************SPN********************************************************************************************

That evening, Bobby and Dean came back to the motel room to find Sam on his laptop, searching through traffic cameras to find the truck.

Lori looked up at them. "What did you find?"

"She's not in any of the empty buildings or warehouses in town," said Dean. "We're about to head to the next town over to check. Just needed to get supplies."

"I want to go with you," said Lori. "I want to help."

Dean looked at Bobby. "Alright, you go with Bobby. I'll help Sam with the…whatever he's doing."

"Traffic camera search," Sam told him from the table.

"Yeah, that," said Dean. He grabbed some guns and ammo from the bed and handed them to Bobby. "Here."

"We'll call in an hour," Bobby told him, heading out the door with Lori.

Dean walked over to the table. "You find anything yet?"

Sam shook his head. "No. Nothing yet. The closest intersection is five blocks from the dock. There's no telling when they left with Lizzie, so I have to search all of them for…anything I can find."

"Well, let me know when you find something," said Dean. "Anything I can do?"

"No," said Sam. "This is it. I'll let you know."

About an hour later, Sam got Dean's attention.

"There's a security footage of a black truck with a pretty big cage in the back from a bank six streets away from the dock," said Sam. "They're headed west."

"Alright, come on," said Dean, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door. He opened it to find it raining. "Crap." He looked at Sam. "Alright, you stay here, look for more footage. I'll head west."

Sam nodded as Dean headed out into the rain. He kept scouring the internet, looking for more footage, but was unsuccessful. And now, Sam had no choice but to stay in the room while it rained. He couldn't help if he couldn't walk. It got to about nine o'clock, and Sam was just sitting at the table, waiting impatiently. His leg would not stay still. He was so nervous to get Lizzie back that it kept bouncing non-stop. A knock came at the door, and Sam jolted up from his seat, rushing towards the door.

"What'd you find…" Sam asked as he opened the door, but he froze.

Sam had never seen the two bounty hunters at the dock, but one look at the shells full of salt draped over their torsos and the iron crowbars, and Sam knew who was standing at the door. And they would only be here for one reason.

Sam flung the door closed, but one guy stuck his foot out, kicking it open before it latched. Sam knew he could not run with the rain outside; he would have to fight. Lucky he had super strength, though. He just needed to avoid the crowbars.

The two hunters burst into the room, readying the crowbars. The first one rushed forward, aiming at Sam's head. Sam grabbed the guy's arm, shoving his knee into the guy's gut. The guy dropped as the second guy ran at Sam. He swung a fist at Sam when he thought Sam was distracted. Sam brought a leg up, catching the guy in the chest.

The first guy whacked Sam in the leg with the crowbar. Sam yelled in pain as the second guy swung his crowbar towards him. Sam instinctively grabbed the crowbar to prevent getting hit. He yelled out again as the iron burned him. He quickly withdrew his hand and held it close. Now, the two hunters would know without a doubt what Sam was.

The first guy attacked, beginning a fist fight. He kept Sam so preoccupied that he didn't notice the second guy loading a shotgun. Sam punched the first guy and raised his arm back to hit him again. The first guy hit the floor suddenly, and a shot rang out. Sam felt the rock salt pepper his chest. Sam yelled, falling back to the floor. His wounds started crackling as the salt went to work.

The two guys grabbed Sam, pulling him to his feet and forcing him towards the door as he groaned in pain. They made it out the door and onto the covered porch before Sam found the strength to fight back. Sam pulled against their grasp, but they began hitting him with the iron crowbars again. They reached the edge of the porch—and subsequently, the roof—and Sam dug his heels into the ground to stop them from dragging him into the rain. The wood actually started to splinter from the force.

One of the hunters let him go and swung a crowbar at his legs, hitting him just behind the knees. Sam's knees buckled a little, but his legs were so locked up and tense that it took several more hits before his legs finally collapsed altogether, losing him his leverage. The first guy used his hold on him to shove him out from under the roof and into the pouring rain.

Sam braced his fall onto the pavement with hands and arms that were already scaling and fin-ing. As he hit the pavement, he heard shredding fabric as he felt his tail tear through his cotton pants. Sam flipped over onto his back, leaving behind the pants. He was left with just his shirt.

The hunters pounced on him, but Sam raised a hand. The rain from about a twenty foot radius began pelting the hunters. They threw their arms up, trying to bat the rain away. Sam brought another hand up, causing the water from the pavement to sweep straight into their legs. They toppled to the pavement as Sam tried to dry himself off, but the rain would just soak him when he dried something off. Sam began to use the water around him as a sled, of sorts. He pushed the water up under him, forcing it to surge him along the parking lot away from them.

The first guy raised an iron knife, plunging it into his tail fin. Sam yelled in pain as he lost his concentration and fell to the pavement with a splash. The two hunters began to attack him into submission.

*****************************************************************************SPN********************************************************************************************************

Dean pulled up to the motel after finding nothing, parking the car at the nearest empty spot—about fifteen spaces away from their room. He got out and heard a commotion from the other end of the lot. He looked over and saw two men pounding on some guy.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, heading to intervene when he saw a flash of blue tail.

_Oh, my God,_ Dean realized. _That's in front of __**our**__ room._

"Sammy!" Dean yelled, racing towards the scene.

When he got close enough, he could recognize the bounty hunters and could see a knife stabbed through Sam's tail, which just enraged him all the more.

_Dammit!_ Dean thought. _Why wasn't I packing?_

One of the hunters turned, getting ready for Dean's attack. Dean swung a punch at him, but the hunter blocked it. The hunter swung a crowbar at Dean's ribs, which Dean took so he could pin the crowbar in between his arm and his torso, grabbing onto the guy's arm that was holding the crowbar. Pulling the guy forward, Dean shoved a knee into his gut. The hunter stumbled back, tripping over Sam's tail and hitting the pavement hard.

Dean pulled the second guy away from beating Sam, punching him several times. Something collided with the back of his head, and the world went black. He felt his body go slack, and the ground hit him in the face.

"Dean!" Sam yelled.

Dean tried to get his bearings as his head throbbed.

"No!" Sam yelled. "Stop!"

Dean slowly brought his head up, fighting the spinning delirium inside his head. His vision began clearing as he dazedly turned onto his side.

"Let me go!" Sam yelled. "Let me go!"

"Sam…" Dean muttered as a blurred parking lot appeared in front of him.

Something was being dragged across the pavement away from him.

"Sammy…" Dean mumbled, his vision clearing a little more.

Dean watched as the two bounty hunters dragged Sam towards their truck.

"Sammy," Dean tried to yell. He sat up quickly, which made his head spin and vision cloud. He ignored the warning signs and pushed himself onto his knees. He grabbed his head as it began to spin.

The hunters reached the truck, putting the gate down on the bed.

"Don't!" Sam yelled, struggling within their grasp. "Dean!"

"Sam!" Dean called weakly.

He fought his spinning head and churning stomach and climbed to his feet as the hunters struggled to push/pull Sam onto the truck. Dean pulled himself towards Sam, his feet stumbling on the pavement. His vision blurred heavily as his head gave a violent lurch, and he fell onto his knees. He pulled his head up to look at the truck, where the hunters were shoving Sam into the cage and closing it.

Dean fell onto his side as his vision began blurring. He fought to keep his eyes open, watching as the truck pulled out of the lot. Sam clung to the bars of the cage, staring at Dean in worry and fear. Dean's vision blacked out.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Sam came to in a bright room. He sat up, looking around, and realized he was under water.

_I'm in the ocean!_ Sam thought.

He raced forward and came to a halt. He could see a room with shelves in it—like a storage room.

_Oh, God, no…_ Sam thought in horror. _Please, no…_

He reached his hand forward and placed it against the clear barrier.

_Aquarium wall…_ Sam thought. He stared at the back room beyond the glass in dread. _No!_

Sam rushed to his left, encountering the same glass wall. He made a 180 and found the same thing. He turned to his right and rushed to the wall, freezing. On this side of the wall was a huge restaurant. It looked like a Chinese or Japanese place—some orient-type restaurant. Sam was in an aquarium…in a restaurant…on display.

_Oh, hell, no!_ Sam screamed in his head.

He rushed up to the top of the water, hoping to break through the top of the tank. There was about a foot of air between the water and the lid. It looked to be metal of some kind that was bolted down. Sam put his hands on it to push, but yelled as his hands burned.

"Iron," Sam muttered.

He dove back under, rushing to the wall in the storage room. He let his torso float back and brought his tail back as far as he could. He swung his tail forward, using the hydrokinesis as momentum, and crashed it against the glass. Nothing happened. Sam hit the glass again and again until his strength finally waned. There wasn't even a splinter in the glass.

_It must be reinforced,_ Sam thought. _How the hell am I gonna get out?_

His prison was about the size of the dining area of a McDonald's—nice and spacious—and it ran the length of the dining room wall, it looked like. It was about twelve feet tall, reaching up almost to the fifteen-foot high ceiling.

_The bounty hunters must have sold me to the restaurant owner,_ Sam thought. _Is this what they did to Lizzie?_

Sam thought about that for a second before going for it.

"_Lizzie?"_ Sam called out telepathically for her.

There was no response.

"_Lizzie?" _Sam called one more time.

There was more silence.

"…_Sam?"_ came Lizzie's faint, small voice.

"_Lizzie!"_ said Sam. _"Are you okay?"_

Sam heard a sob.

"_No," _said Lizzie.

"_Are you hurt?"_ asked Sam.

"_No, no, I'm fine," _said Lizzie. _"Just a small cut. I don't know where I am."_

"_Look around," _said Sam. _"What do you see?"_

There was a pause.

"_Um…some shelves in a storage area," _said Lizzie.

"_What about the other side?"_ asked Sam. _"Do you see dining tables?"_

"_Uh…no," _said Lizzie. _"It's…it's tables, but it looks more like a bar or something."_

"_Okay," _said Sam. _"I'm in a restaurant in a tank, like you. Have you tried breaking out?"_

"_Yeah, it didn't work," _said Lizzie. _"What are we going to do?"_

"_Have you tried to talk to your sister?" _asked Sam.

"_Yeah,"_ said Lizzie. _"We must be too far away from the beach. I couldn't reach to her."_

Sam thought for a moment. _Maybe it would work…_

His psychic powers had been gone for almost a year, but Ruby **did** say…

"_There is a chance that would work…"_ Sam thought out loud.

"_What would work?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_Let me try to talk to her," _said Sam. _"My mind has always been…sharper than most."_

"_Okay," _said Lizzie.

Sam closed his eyes, trying to make this work.

"_Lori?" _Sam called as loud as he could.

There was nothing to let him know she'd heard.

"_Lori, can you hear me? It's me, Sam."_

Sam waited to see if she responded or not.

*****************************************SPN**************************************************

"Dean! Dean!"

Dean was shaken awake, still lying in the rain on the pavement.

"Sam…" said Dean dazedly. He looked up and saw Bobby.

"You okay?" asked Bobby.

Dean tried to remember how he'd gotten there. He suddenly bolted upright. "Sam!"

"Where **is **Sam, Dean?" asked Bobby. "Your room's trashed, and the door was open. What's going on?"

Dean jumped to his feet, scanning the parking lot through the rain. "No, no, no!"

"What is it?" asked Bobby.

"Sam's been fish-napped, that's what," said Dean. "The bounty hunters took him. Where's Lori?"

"I took her back to the dock," said Bobby. "That way, she could keep an ear out for Lizzie. And Sam now, I guess. Which way did they go?"

Dean pointed down the road where he hazily remembered the truck going. "There. Let's go."

They began heading for the Impala when a giant wall of water swept into the parking lot, colliding into Dean and soaking him all over again.

_If I hadn't already been wet head to toe, I'd be pissed,_ Dean thought.

The water gathered back up into the air, forming letters.

"What the…" said Dean, staring at it.

It read: DEAN DOCK.

"It's Lori," said Bobby. "Come on!"

They jumped into the Impala, and Dean sped down to the dock. Lori was in the dock water, looking very frantic and on edge. Dean jumped out of the car, running to the edge of the dock.

"What?" asked Dean. "What is it?"

"It's Sam," said Lori. "I heard him."

"You did?" asked Dean.

Lori nodded. "Very faint. Barely there. He must be very far away."

"What'd he say?" asked Dean.

"My name," said Lori. "Then, 'hear' and 'Sam.'"

"Did he say where he was?" asked Bobby.

"I've been trying to contact him ever since," said Lori. "But it's like he can't hear me. How can he talk to me, but I can't talk to him?"

"It must be his psychic thing," said Bobby. "Allows him to transmit further than the others."

"Psychic?" asked Lori.

"Later," said Dean. "Has he said anything else?"

"I haven't been able to make heads or tails out of anything except, 'Lizzie,'" said Lori.

"Dammit," said Dean.

Lori closed her eyes, listening. "Wait. I hear him again."

****************************************************SPN******************************************************

"_Lori, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, Lizzie and I are being held in display tanks," _Sam said, desperately hoping to get through to Lori. _"I'm in an oriental restaurant. Lizzie is in a bar. We are west of Atlanta."_

_***********************************************************SPN*************************************************************_

Lori concentrated, repeating what she was hearing. "Know…hear me…Lizzie…tanks…restaurant…bar…Atlanta."

Dean's eyes brightened. "God bless you, Sammy, for your sense of direction."

"What?" asked Bobby.

"Sam was once kidnapped by vampires," said Dean. "They blindfolded him, but he was still able to tell me exactly where they took him."

"Atlanta?" said Bobby. "Atlanta, Georgia?"

"Sounds good to me," said Dean. "Come on."

"I'm coming with you," said Lori. "You're gonna need a mermaid to listen for them."

"Alright," said Dean, holding out his hands to pull Lori from the water. "Come on."

The water suddenly surged up out of the dock, jumping over Dean and Bobby and coming to rest next to the Impala. Lori was perched on top of the pulsing water.

"You coming?" asked Lori.

Dean smirked. "Damn, you're good, girl." He opened the back door. "Don't get the upholstery wet!"

Lori eased herself into the backseat, keeping the seat dry. "Get my clothes from the building!"

Dean rushed over to the building, finding a change of clothes there. He ran back to the car and jumped in, tossing the clothes in the back. As Lori tried to get comfortable in the back, Dean slammed on the accelerator, heading for Atlanta.

"What else did he say?" asked Dean. "Something about a bar?"

"And a restaurant," said Lori. "And tanks."

"Tanks?" asked Dean, frowning. His eyes widened. "Oh, God."

"What?" asked Bobby.

"The two of them could be in tanks," said Dean. "Like aquariums."

"Like, on display?" asked Lori, horrified.

"Yeah, a restaurant and a bar," said Dean. "You getting anything else?"

"No," said Lori. "But the closer we get, the louder and clearer he'll be. I'll need water once an hour to stay like this so I can talk to them."

"Got it," said Dean.

Lori closed her eyes. _"Sam, if you can hear me? We're headed to you."_

_****************************************************SPN************************************************************_

Sam gave up on contacting Lori for the time being and went back to talking to Lizzie. _"Well, if she heard me, I gave them enough information to start heading this way."_

"_You think they'll find us?" _asked Lizzie.

"_Yeah," _said Sam. _"But we're about six hours from Myrtle Beach, so…it'll probably take a while."_

"_Is anyone in your building?"_ asked Lizzie.

Sam took a second look around the dining room. _"Not yet. Must be night time."_

"_Yeah,"_ said Lizzie. _"No one here either. If it's a bar, it must be early morning. Bars usually stay open late, don't they?"_

"_Yeah,"_ said Sam. He heard a noise and jolted away from the glass and behind a rock on the tank floor, peeking out from behind it. _"Wait a minute, someone's here."_

Two men walked into the dining room. One was wearing a suit, and the other was wearing business casual. They both walked over to the tank.

"Where is he?" the business casual asked the suit.

Their voices were muffled, but Sam could make out what they were saying with his advanced hearing.

"There," said the suit, pointing at Sam.

"Little shy, huh?" said the business casual.

"No matter," said the suit. "We have ways of making him come out. He'll be a nice addition to the decoration."

"Yep," said the business casual. "Where'd you get him?"

"Couple of bounty hunters," said the suit. "Paid a good penny for him."

The business casual smiled. "Well, we'll see how it goes over at opening time in two hours."

"Yes, we will," said the suit.

They walked away from the tank, and Sam snuck up to the glass to watch. The suit glanced back at him.

"See?" said the suit. "He's curious."

The business casual looked back at Sam. "Well…he's not hard on the eyes."

Sam glared daggers at them as he swam to the back of the tank.

_Oh, this is so not good,_ Sam thought. _Dean, hurry._

"_Lizzie," _said Sam.

"_What?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_This restaurant is about to open," _said Sam. _"I guess it's around seven o'clock or something."_

"_The bar probably won't open until later this afternoon," _said Lizzie.

"_Don't worry, Lizzie," _said Sam. _"If I know my brother, they're on their way here right now."_

**Okay, I need help. Can anyone think of a reason why the restaurant owner would no longer want Sam?**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

**Thank you for the great ideas!**

"Look, Mommy!"

"That's amazing!"

"He's so real-looking!"

"Why isn't he singing, or something?"

Sam lay on the bottom of the tank, trying to ignore the gawkers in the restaurant. The place had opened for business an hour ago, and every patron had come over for a better look. Most of them seemed to think he was some kind of pet, or something. They kept trying to get him to do tricks or make that kissy sound when you try to get a dog to come. It was very demeaning.

Not only that, but the people that actually did believe he was a real merman kept trying to stereotype him. They thought he was supposed to sunbathe on a rock while singing and collecting sea shells or something. Now that, that was just plain prejudiced. And it actually kind of angered him.

Sam had begun to hear Lori talking back to him about two hours ago. Her voice had started coming in bits and pieces.

"_Sam…hear me?"_

"_Lori!" _Sam exclaimed. _"Lizzie, I hear her! Lori, can you hear me?"_

"_Sam!" _Lori cried._ "Sam…hear you…hold on."_

"_Lizzie, give it a try now!"_ Sam told her.

"_Lori?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_Sam, if…hear me…" _said Lori. _"We're…into Florence…Lizzie?"_

"_Lori, I'm hear!"_ Lizzie called.

"_Lizzie!"_ called Lori. _"Barely…you…Hang…there!"_

"_You hear that, Lizzie?"_ said Sam. _"They're coming. Florence is about an hour and a half from Myrtle Beach. They're headed for us."_

Over the last two hours, the connection between them started getting clearer and clearer. Lori asked where Sam and Lizzie were, but all they could tell them was that they were in a restaurant and a bar, respectively. They had not been awake when they were taken inside of the buildings. Nor could they tell them exactly which town they were in. Sam had reluctantly told them that they were not **in** Atlanta, but in some town west of it.

"_Lori?"_ Sam asked as he heard silence after telling them that. _"Lori?"_

"_You'll have to forgive me," _said Lori. _"Your brother is shouting obscenities in the driver's seat."_

Sam laughed. _"Of course he is. You guys need any help looking for us, then—"_

"_You'll what?" _said Lori. _"You'll send out an S.O.S.?"_

"_We might be able to give you some clues," _said Sam.

Now, Sam was waiting for the day to end. Only an hour of staring customers, and he was already fed up with the attention. Sam lay on the floor of the tank, staring up at the lid. Several people knocked on the glass before giving up and returning to their tables.

Sam glanced over into the dining room, watching the patrons eating and talking throughout the restaurant. Sam searched desperately for someone with a menu open and finally found one. Unfortunately, the restaurant was so high class that the menu didn't have the restaurant title on it. It was blank on the front. The restaurant didn't have the name displayed anywhere that Sam could see. The front lobby was around the corner up front, so he couldn't see the title displayed there. It was so frustrating, not being able to tell Dean where to find him.

"_Hey, Lizzie, do you know the name of the bar?"_ asked Sam.

"_No,"_ said Lizzie. _"Nothing is displayed."_

A thought suddenly occurred to Sam. _"We might be in the same place."_

"_What?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_We might be in a restaurant that has an adjoining bar in the building,"_ said Sam. _"Does it look like a high-class place?"_

"_Yeah,"_ said Lizzie. _"And there's been this annoying man in a suit."_

"_Is he Asian with a pencil mustache?"_ asked Sam.

"_Yeah…"_ said Lizzie.

"_That's the same guy that owns the restaurant,"_ said Sam. _"That's as good a clue as any. Lori."_

"_Yeah, Sam?" _asked Lori.

"_It looks like the place where Lizzie is being kept is the same place where I am," _Sam told her.

"_It is?"_ asked Lori.

"_Yeah, the same guy owns both of them,"_ said Sam. _"So, they're either in the same building, or they're close to each other."_

"_But you still don't know what they're called?"_ asked Lori.

"_No, it's so fancy that there's no name displayed anywhere,"_ said Lizzie. _"This sucks."_

"_Tell me about it,"_ said Lori. _"Well, we're passing Aiken, South Carolina. That's about three hours and forty-five minutes from Myrtle Beach. We had to stop for water."_

"_Right,"_ said Lizzie. _"Just get here soon."_

"_Oh, believe me, Dean's got pedal to the metal,"_ said Lori.

"_See you guys soon, hopefully,"_ said Sam.

Sam looked around the restaurant, looking for a way to get out.

_There has to be __**something**_**, **Sam thought.

His gaze swept the room, landing on a glass of water at one table. He looked around at the soups, drinks and other liquids at the tables. Sam smiled a little. Maybe if he caused enough problems, they would get rid of him.

Sam swam towards the glass, looking for his chance. A few customers nearby looked up in interest that he was finally moving around. Sam waited until they looked away and targeted a glass of water at a table of four. He stretched his hand towards the glass of the tank, making the water tip the glass over, falling on the guy's lap.

A waiter immediately came over with a linen napkin, giving it to the guy. The owner looked over at the commotion, frowning and shaking his head.

Sam looked over towards a bowl of soup being carried by a waiter. Sam raised his hand and waited until the server was passing a table. He forced the liquid out of the bowl and onto a lady's head. She immediately jumped up, turning to scream at the server, who was completely flabbergasted. Sam felt bad for doing this to these people, but they would get over it. He needed to get out of here.

The owner glanced at the table, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. He glanced over at Sam, but Sam didn't notice.

Sam looked over at a tray full of drinks being carried from the kitchen. He raised a hand, causing the water to flow out of the drinks and onto the waiter's head. He sniggered at the sight as the waiter dropped the tray, breaking the glasses.

The owner glared at Sam as he reached into his pocket for something.

Sam raised both hands, causing every liquid in the place to rise out of their containers and splash up into the ceiling, raining down on everyone.

_It's working,_ Sam thought. _There's no way they'll keep me after—_

An unbearable pain shot through Sam's body, every muscle twitching in response to the electrical current that was only magnified by the water surrounding him. After about five seconds, the pain stopped, and Sam breathed heavily a few times, floating to the bottom of the tank. He looked up to see the owner standing by the kitchen, holding something up in his hand and waving it at him. Sam looked closer to see that it was a remote of some kind.

_A remote taser…_ Sam realized.

The tank was rigged with tasers that went off whenever the owner hit that button. Whenever Sam did something they didn't like, they would simply press the button to stop him.

_Looks like these guys are prepared,_ Sam thought._ They're not gonna give me up that easily…_

It was all up to Dean now.

*******************************************SPN******************************************************

"Anything else?" asked Dean.

"For the last time, no," said Lori. "I'll let you know if he says anything else."

"I just…" began Dean, clenching his jaw. "How are we gonna find him if we don't even know what town he's in?"

"We'll find him," said Bobby.

"How?" said Dean. "How are we gonna find him? We can't just search every restaurant-slash-bar that we come across west of Atlanta. And who knows **how** west of Atlanta they really are? They could be an hour away from Atlanta, for all we know—"

"Hey," said Lori, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Their voices get stronger the closer we get. We just gotta search until we find the strongest signal."

"Signal?" said Dean. "What are they, cell phones?"

"Do you wanna be the radar person?" asked Lori. "'Cause right about now, I'd be happy to spread the fun."

Dean glared at her in the rearview mirror. "No, thanks. Keep the scales to yourself."

"Can we just drive without jumping down each other's throats, please?" said Bobby.

Dean and Lori looked at him and back at the road.

"We just need to get there soon," said Bobby.

"Yeah, I know," said Dean.

"No, you don't," said Bobby.

Dean glanced at him, frowning. "What?"

"Sam isn't just there on display," said Bobby. "The bounty hunters would have set up a deal where they could get Sam's scales and blood on a regular basis for potions and antidotes."

Dean's eyes widened. "So, they're gonna torture him?"

Bobby shrugged. "In a manner of speaking…yeah."

"Dammit," said Dean, hitting the gas harder.

*********************************************************SPN********************************************************************

That night, Sam watched as the last of the employees began cleaning up the restaurant. Lizzie had mentioned a few hours ago that patrons had begun filing into the bar and were still in there. Lori had told them that they had arrived in Atlanta about eight hours ago. They had begun a search of restaurants that were oriental within an hour's length of Atlanta, especially ones with an attached bar.

Suddenly, a metal door slammed shut on the restaurant side of the tank, blocking his view. Sam jumped back, bumping into the storage side of the tank. He stared in confusion until he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye.

Sam jumped away from the storage room, pushing away from the glass. Someone was walking towards the tank in the storage room, setting a ladder next to the glass. The person climbed up the ladder and unlocked the lid, throwing it open. Sam surged up to the surface, bringing currents of water with him to attack the guy and get out.

The water gushed with electricity again, and Sam convulsed, falling to the bottom of the tank. This time, the current lasted longer, zapping any resistance out of Sam's body. When the pain finally stopped, Sam was left on the bottom of the tank, barely able to look up at the guy who grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him to the surface.

He wasn't able to fight back as he watched the second guy lower a pair of tweezers towards him. He twitched feebly as he told his body and mind to struggle away from them. He could do nothing as the tweezers went to his neck, grabbing hold of the scales back there. As they began pulling scales off, a faint groan escaped Sam's mouth as he tried to yell in pain.

When they got as many scales as they wanted, they pulled a hypodermic syringe out, lowering it towards the inside of Sam's elbow. Sam tried to move, but still couldn't manage it. The needle was stuck into his arm, and they filled the giant syringe with his blood. His vision began to fade from blood loss as they pulled the needle out and let him go, locking the lid again. Sam fell towards the bottom of the tank as he passed out.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Dean!" Lori called from the bathroom. "Dean!"

Dean came running into the bathroom and over to the tub. "What? What?"

"It's Sam!" Lori yelled, eyes wide. "Something's wrong!"

"What?" Dean exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"He's in pain," Lori told him. She paused for a moment, concentrating. "He's gone."

Dean's eyes widened. "What?"

"Not dead," Lori quickly clarified. "Just…gone."

"_Lori, did you feel that?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_Yeah,"_ said Lori. _"I felt it. Do you know what's going on?"_

"_No,"_ said Lizzie. _"I'll try to talk to him. I'll let you know."_

"_Hurry," _said Lori. _"Dean's worried."_

"_Okay," _said Lizzie.

Lori looked up at Dean. "Don't worry, Dean. Lizzie's looking into it."

Dean sat down next to the tub. "I just…I can't do anything to help him. I'm completely useless."

"No, you're not," said Lori. "You're doing what he can't. You're searching for him. We're already closer to finding him than we were this morning."

"I just wish we had a better clue to go on," said Dean.

"Me, too," said Lori. "I just want my sister to be okay."

"She will be," said Dean. "And Sam will be, too. They're strong. We'll find them, and they'll be okay."

Lori nodded and went back to waiting for contact from Sam or Lizzie.

*********************************************************************SPN**********************************************************************************************

Sam woke up to a dark room. He jolted up from the floor of the tank, remembering what had happened. He raised a hand to his neck, feeling the raw skin where the scales had been. He looked down at his arm, seeing the puncture where they had drawn his blood.

_Dammit,_ thought Sam. _That hurt…_

He looked around the dining room, seeing that everyone was gone now. It must be the middle of the night.

"_Lizzie?"_ Sam called.

"_Sam!"_ Lizzie exclaimed. _"What happened?"_

"_What?"_ asked Sam.

"_You were screaming," _said Lizzie. _"Did someone hurt you?"_

"_Uh…someone came to collect some scales and blood," _said Sam. _"They kind of tasered me."_

"_Are you okay?"_ asked Lizzie.

"_Yeah, I'm fine now," _said Sam. _"What about you?"_

"_I'm okay,"_ said Lizzie. _"The last of the employees cleared out a couple minutes ago. You might want to talk to Lori. She heard your screams, too. Dean's kind of freaked out."_

"_Right,"_ said Sam. _"Lori?"_

"_Sam, are you okay?" _asked Lori.

"_Yeah," _said Sam. _"Bounty hunters—"_

"—_came to collect?"_ asked Lori.

"_Yeah,"_ said Sam.

"_That's what we thought it might have been," _said Lori. _"Just hang in there, okay? We might be getting close."_

"_Thanks," _said Sam.

He went back to sitting in the corner of the tank and waiting out the long hours until opening time again.

******************************************************************SPN************************************************************************

Lori opened her eyes, looking towards the bathroom door. "Sam's fine!"

Dean ran into the room. "He's awake?"

"Yeah," said Lori. "He says they came for the scales and stuff."

Dean clenched his jaw tight. "Son of a bitch…"

"But he says he's fine now," said Lori. "Did we find anything?"

"No, not yet," Dean growled in impatience.

"Hey, you two, I think I found something!" Bobby called from the other room.

Dean's eyes brightened. "I spoke too soon." He rushed out of the bathroom as Lori pulled herself out, drying off and wrapping a towel around her.

Lori walked out into the room, sitting at the table. "What is it?"

"Well, there's a few restaurants that look promising," said Bobby. "All Asian, most with a bar attached or one nearby. But it could be any of them; we don't exactly have the name of the city they're being held in. One chain prides themselves on serving ten different kinds of sushi dishes, one serves nothing but shrimp and rice, one prides themselves on being the only one in the area to serve squid, one serves lobster, crab and steak…There's just too many that it could be. We're gonna have to search every one of them."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Great. Well, we better get started." He grabbed his jacket as Lori scrambled to pull some clothes on. "No better time to search restaurants than when they're closed."

Bobby wrapped up his research, grabbing the restaurant papers and following Dean out the door with Lori.

**********************************************************SPN*************************************************************************************

Dean, Bobby and Lori stumbled back into the motel room the next morning.

"Nothing?" said Dean. "Are you kidding me? We searched ten freaking restaurants last night."

"That makes ten less to search tonight," Bobby pointed out, tossing his papers down onto the table. "We only searched Ashview Heights, Amal Heights and Peyton Forest. That's three cities down."

"And about twenty more to go," said Dean, flopping down onto the bed. "By that time, Sam could be filleted."

"I'm gonna see if they know anything else," said Lori, heading for the bathroom.

Bobby sat down at the table. "Don't worry, Dean, we're not giving up. We just need to eat before heading off to some more restaurants. We can always check them out as FBI during the day."

Dean sighed. "Maybe. Let's just hurry up and get take out. I need to find him…soon."

**********************************************************************SPN**********************************************************************************

**Five days later…**

Sam lay in his tank, staring up at the lid. Lori had told him and Lizzie that they were searching restaurants, but still, obviously, hadn't found anything. That, combined with the constant stares and jeers and the nightly scale and blood theft, was making Sam lose hope.

Surprisingly, his scales were beginning to diminish in color, almost as if his emotions were related to them. Whereas his scales used to be bright and luminescent, now they were almost a pastel shade—dull and faded. Sure, his scales grew back by the afternoon, but that didn't change the fact that it still hurt. Not to mention to constant electro-shock treatment.

The continuous tapping on the glass was driving Sam insane. He tried to ignore it and just stare off into space, but the incessant _tap-tap_ was shoving a spike into Sam's temple. It's like these people didn't even care that he was trapped in here against his will. All they cared about was entertaining themselves.

It was about four o'clock, and there hadn't been any tapping for about a half hour now. Sam just lay on his side, facing the storage room. He heard something tap on the glass, but it was different somehow. It wasn't someone knocking on the glass or anything. The sound was…smaller somehow.

Sam turned his torso, looking over at the dining room to see a little boy—about five years old—at the glass. He stood with his hand plastered against the tank, a sad look on his face.

"Don't worry," Sam heard the little boy say with his advanced hearing. "I'll be your friend."

Sam's mouth twitched into a slight smile as he reached a hand out, putting it against the glass so his hand appeared to be touching the boy's hand. Sam looked at the little boy as he looked back at him. Sam smiled at the boy, touched by how much insight this little guy had.

"See?" said the little boy. "Don't be sad no more."

Sam smiled at him, slowly taking his hand off the glass as someone else stepped up to the glass. It was a guy in his early twenties.

"Hey, check it out," said the guy. "He **is** alive."

Sam rolled his eyes, turning back over towards the storage room.

"Ooh," said the guy. "Not very friendly, huh? Bet your mother was."

Sam froze, glaring at the glass of the storage room.

"Oh, yeah," said the guy. "I mean, she had to have been, to mother a freak like you."

Sam slowly rolled back over onto his back, glaring at the guy.

"Oh, no," said the guy. "I've angered it. Better run and hide."

Sam pulled himself up so he was at eye level with the guy.

"Oh, what, now you're gonna show me?" said the guy. "I'd like to see you try from that tank, you freak."

Sam towered over the guy, charging towards the glass. As he reached the glass, the electrical shock zapped into the water, stopping him instantly. He convulsed as he was electrocuted, twisting in the water. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a small voice shouting.

"Stop! Stop!"

Sam convulsed as the electricity kept coming, and he dropped towards the tank floor.

"They're hurting him!"

Sam hit the floor of the tank as the electricity stopped. He lay panting on the tank floor as his vision began to dim. He turned his head towards the dining room, where the guy was smirking and laughing at him. But Sam did not see him; he saw the five year old boy with his hands plastered against the glass, looking at Sam in worry and concern, just before the world went dark.

*******************************************************************SPN***********************************************************************************************

Dean fidgeted on the couch in the motel room in Lithia Springs, Georgia. He'd given Lori his bed, which Lori was now sleeping in, surrounded by bags and bottles of water so she could wake up and use them to keep her form. They were getting desperate as each day passed and wanted Lori to hear _anything_ Lizzie or Sam may say.

Lori snapped awake that night, frowning in confusion.

"_No…"_

Lori looked around the room, but could see that Bobby and Dean were both sound asleep and not talking.

"_Stop…"_

Lori's eyes widened as she recognized that voice.

"_Don't…stop…"_

Lori pulled herself up, dumping some water on her tail and torso.

"_Please, don't…no…"_

Lori looked over towards the couch. "Dean."

Dean didn't respond.

"Dean!" Lori yelled.

Dean jolted on the couch. "Wha—what?"

"_Hurts…"_

"Dean, it's Sam," Lori told him.

Dean was wide awake in a second, jumping off the couch and rushing to Lori's bed. "What? What's he saying?"

"I don't know," said Lori. "It sounds like he's begging someone. I don't think he's talking to me."

"Well, if he's talking to whoever is with him, then why is he letting you hear him?" asked Dean.

Lori frowned as she heard Sam's voice again.

"_It's Oriental…restaurant and bar…Asian owner…fancy dining room…"_

"I think he's talking to himself," said Lori. "In his sleep."

"What?" asked Dean.

"It sounds like his unconscious mind is trying to put all the clues together to figure something else out," said Lori. "Some clue he's missing. He just keeps going over details of the restaurant."

"What details?" asked Dean, eager for a hint.

"Stuff we already know," said Lori.

"_West of Atlanta…"_

"He still doesn't know what town he's in," said Lori.

"_Eggrolls…sushi…"_

"Now, he's naming the specials," said Lori, shaking her head.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Sammy and his stupid attention to detail…"

"_That stupid squid…"_

Lori's eyes widened as she stared straight ahead.

"Lori?" asked Dean.

Lori looked at Dean with a smile. "I know where he is."

"What?" asked Dean.

"I know where Sam is!" said Lori.

"Where?" asked Bobby.

They looked over at him. Apparently, he'd woken up at some point.

"You said there was one chain of restaurants that prided themselves on being the only ones in the state that served squid," said Lori.

Bobby nodded. "Yeah, Panda Garden."

"That's where he is," said Lori. "One of the specials Sam is naming is squid."

Bobby quickly got his boots on as Dean did the same. "There's one here is Lithia Springs and one in Douglasville. They both have bars attached to their buildings. That's where they are."

"Alright, come on," said Dean, heading for the door.

"I'll stay here and talk to them," said Lori.

Dean looked at her. "Alright, um, Bobby, stay with her and call me if they say anything important."

"Got it," said Bobby, handing Dean some papers. "Here's the addresses."

"Thanks," said Dean, running out the door.

***************************************SPN***********************************************

Dean dialed Bobby's cell as he hit the accelerator.

"Yeah?" Bobby answered.

"It wasn't in Lithia Springs," said Dean. "They must be in Douglasville. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Got it," said Bobby. "Lori says she's told Lizzie, but Sam must still be out of it. She can't reach him."

"Don't worry," said Dean. "I'll wake him up." He hung up.

Dean peeled into the parking lot of the restaurant five minutes later, jumping out and grabbing his pistol out of his jacket. He ran around back and kicked the door in, raising his gun as he ran in. Seeing no one, he headed out of the kitchen to see a giant aquarium along one wall of the dining room. Lying on the bottom of the tank was a familiar merman, facing the opposite wall.

"Oh, thank God," Dean breathed.

He rushed to the tank, seeing how Sam's scales had faded. He frowned in confusion and saw a door in the wall next to the tank.

****************************************************************SPN*************************************************************************

Sam jolted awake as he heard a loud clang. He looked behind him to see that the metal door was back in place, blocking out the view of the dining room.

_No,_ Sam thought, backing up against the blocked-off dining room glass. _No, they were already here tonight…They can't be back! No!_

Someone quickly approached the tank in the storage room as Sam cowered against the far side of the tank. The person put both hands against the glass, looking in at him.

Sam's eyes widened as a smile broke out of his face.

"_Dean!"_ Sam shouted, knowing his brother couldn't hear him.

Dean quickly grabbed a ladder as Sam rushed over towards the glass. Dean put the ladder next to the tank and scampered up it. Sam swam to the top of the tank, waiting for Dean to open the iron lid. There were some bangs from the other side of the lid before Sam saw Dean duck down on the ladder to see him. He showed him his gun, and Sam nodded, swimming to the far side of the tank.

Dean got back to the top of the ladder, firing a round off. The bullet shot through the lid and into the tank, embedding in the floor. Sam raced back to the lid as someone fussed with it. The lid came off, and Sam reached up through it, pulling his head and shoulders out to see Dean standing there with a smile.

"Damn, I'm so glad to see you," said Sam.

"Obviously," said Dean, looking at Sam's arms in confusion.

Sam looked down to see that his scales and fin had changed back to that bright color again; it was official—his scales reflected his emotions. Sam shrugged as Dean stared in horror at his arms. He could see the newly missing scales and latest puncture mark from that night.

"What did they do to you?" asked Dean.

"Doesn't matter," said Sam. "Get me out of here."

Dean grasped onto Sam's arms, trying to help him out. They got Sam's torso out before a gun cocked behind Dean. They both looked up to see two men at the door.

"You're not going anywhere," said one man.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"You're not going anywhere," said one guy, aiming the shotgun at Dean.

Sam glanced sideways at Dean, who gave him a subtle nod. Sam raised his hand as Dean reached into his jacket. Sam sent a jet of water towards the two guys as Dean pulled out his pistol. The two guys stumbled under the water onslaught as Dean raised his gun, aiming for the knee cap of the guy with the shotgun.

Sam suddenly felt an electric jolt, and he cried out in pain, losing his concentration. Dean turned to see the Asian owner standing on the other side of him with a remote in his hand. Dean raised his gun, aiming at him.

"Don't even think about it," said the owner, raising the remote. "Or the merman becomes tomorrow's special."

Dean glanced over at Sam, who lay slumped over the tank's lid, breathing heavily.

The owner saw how Dean's arms were completely wet and yet finless, and he frowned. "You're not a merman."

"No," said Dean, tightening his grip on the pistol. "I'm the hunter that's your worst nightmare."

The owner looked over at Sam, narrowing his eyes. "The merman has a hunter friend…Well, they certainly left that out of the contract."

"I'll bet they did," said Dean, glaring at the owner. "You let my brother go right now, or you're gonna be sorry."

"Brother?" said the owner. He shook his head in annoyance. "Well, we'll have to fix this little problem, won't we?"

Something collided with the back of Dean's head, and Dean fell off of the ladder to the floor.

"No!" Sam called feebly, raising his hand again to fight back with his abilities.

The owner pressed the button on the remote again, and Sam convulsed before passing out and falling to the floor of the tank.

"You bastard!" Dean yelled, charging towards the owner and getting a punch in.

One of the security guys grabbed Dean from behind, and Dean raised a leg, kicking the guy in the shin. The second guy punched Dean before Dean got in a few swings to the guy's face. The first guy kicked Dean in the back, and Dean hit the floor hard. He turned as the second guy swung his shotgun down towards him. Dean grabbed the shotgun, pushing it up towards the guy's face and hitting him in the jaw. The first guy aimed a kick at Dean's head, dazing him.

The second guy grabbed Dean's arms, pulling him up and handcuffing him. He hit him in the head again, and Dean's head lolled to the side, watching as the owner stared shrewdly at him.

"Take him downstairs," said the owner. "Bring the merman."

Dean passed out as they began dragging him towards the door.

******************************************************SPN*******************************************************************

Sam stirred, looking around the tank in confusion. Remembering everything, he jolted up to find that the tank was only five feet tall and ten feet long.

"Ah, look who's awake."

Sam looked through the glass of the tank to see he was now in a basement of some sort. The owner stood in the corner next to a chair where Dean was tied to, looking at Sam in concern. It looked like they had hit him a fair few times before Sam woke up. Across from him was another tank, containing Lizzie. Sam's eyes widened when he saw her.

"_Are you okay?"_ asked Sam.

"_Yeah, I'm fine," _said Lizzie. _"You?"_

"_Yeah," _said Sam. _"For now."_

"Well, well, well," said the owner. "We got ourselves a problem. I paid good money for a decorative addition to my establishments. I don't need these…complications."

"Complications, huh?" said Dean. "Then why don't you let us go."

"Why?" said the owner. "So you can come back and take care of me? You're a hunter."

"I'm also a great humanitarian," said Dean with a smile. "I'll even let you go."

The owner leaned down into Dean's face. "You think I was born yesterday?"

"Not with that face," growled Dean.

The owner stood up away from Dean, nodding. One of the security guys punched Dean in the face. Sam banged on the glass of the tank, glaring at the owner, who looked at him.

"And now I need to take care of this," said the owner, stepping towards Sam's tank. "I can't have more of your _family_ coming to get you. And, frankly, you've been an incredible nuisance."

"What about your precious _decorative addition_?" said Dean, looking in concern at Sam.

"The bounty hunters have promised a replacement," said the owner. "With no cost to me." He smiled at Sam. "You might want to say goodbye to your brother."

Sam, Dean and Lizzie watched in horror as the owner reached down to the bottom of the tank, pressing a few buttons. Sam watched him for a moment before he felt the water growing warmer around him. He frowned down at the floor of the tank, where bubbles were beginning to form and rise to the surface. The owner was _boiling_ him…

Sam raised his arms, banging on the glass of the tank.

"No!" Dean yelled, also realizing what was happening. "Stop!"

Sam used the force of the water along with his fists to try to break the glass, but it seemed to be reinforced like the one before. The water was becoming uncomfortable.

"_No!"_ Lizzie screamed. _"Don't! Sam!"_

Sam rushed to the top of the tank, but the lid was closed tight. He put his hands on it, but quickly brought them away as they burned against the iron. Sam looked down at the water and back at the lid, putting his hands on it again. He yelled in his head as the iron burned, but he pushed with all his strength to get out.

"Stop!" Dean yelled, struggling in his bonds. "Stop it! Sam!"

Sam gave up on the lid as the water grew very, very hot. He went back to pounding on the glass as the temperature turned scalding. Sam yelled in his head as he brought his tail forward, using all of his enhanced strength to try to break the glass.

"_Sam, no!" _Lizzie screamed. _"Stop hurting him!"_

As the water grew unbearable, Sam's strength began to fade, and his tail began to thrash weakly.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled.

Sam's tail hit the glass feebly one more time before he passed out, falling to the bottom of the tank.

"No!" Dean yelled.

"_No!"_ Lizzie screamed.

Lizzie glared at the owner and spotted some pipes running along the ceiling. She raised her hand, and water burst out of the pipe, hitting the owner and the guards with incredible force. They each hit the wall hard, getting knocked out. Dean struggled with the cuffs a little more before he managed to pull one hand through, scraping his knuckles against it. He pulled the ropes off of his body, the cuffs hanging from one wrist. He rushed towards Sam's tank, turning off the heater and unlocking the lid.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled, reaching into the water.

The water burned him, and he pulled his hand back out quickly.

"Dean, move!" Lizzie yelled from above the water in her tank.

Dean stepped back, and Lizzie forced the water to carry Sam out of the lid and onto the floor.

Dean rushed towards Sam, shaking him. "Sam? Sammy!"

Sam was out, his skin slightly red and blistered.

"Sam, no!" Dean yelled.

"Dean, get me out!" Lizzie called. "I can help him!"

"Sam, come on!" Dean yelled, shaking Sam again.

"Dean, I can heal him, but you have to get me out!" Lizzie screamed.

That finally got through to Dean, and he jumped up, unlocking her tank. Lizzie made the water carry her out of the tank, and she landed next to Sam. She put both hands on the sides of his face, lowering her face towards his and kissing him.

_Healing kiss…_ Dean realized.

Lizzie kissed him for several moments, finally pulling away. Sam's skin was less red now, more like a mild sunburn, and the blisters were gone. Sam gasped as he sat up.

"Sammy!" Dean called, kneeling over him. "Sam! Say something!"

Sam looked up at Lizzie, wide eyed. "Wow…"

Lizzie giggled at him as Sam smiled at her.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Alright, you lovebirds, keep it in your pants."

Lizzie and Sam blushed as Dean put a hand on the side of Sam's head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Dean.

"Yeah," said Sam, wincing as he tried to sit up, tears falling from the corners of his eyes in pain. "I'll be fine."

"Sam!" cried Lizzie. "Your tears!"

Sam and Dean looked at her.

"What?" asked Sam.

Lizzie sighed. "Too late…"

Dean suddenly pulled his hand away from Sam's head, and they both looked down to see that Sam's tears had fallen onto the bloody scrapes of Dean's knuckles. The tears sparkled as they rushed into Dean's bloodstream. Sam's eyes widened as he looked up at Dean.

Dean looked from his hand to Sam's face. "You've gotta be kidding me…"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

**You guys are dying to know what color Dean's scales are, aren't ya?**

Dean jumped up from the pooled water on the floor. "Oh, this is just great."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad, you know."

"I don't really have the time to be a merman right now," said Dean, checking to make sure he wasn't sprouting scales or a tail.

"Don't worry," said Lizzie. "The Elders will heal you."

Sam looked at her. "Really?"

Lizzie nodded. "You two have things to do…It's your job. I'll talk to them and see if there's a cure."

"Thank you," said Sam.

They both dried themselves off and got to their feet.

"Come on," said Sam, heading to one of the guards. "We gotta go."

They grabbed the clothes off of the two guards, put them on, and the three of them ran out of the building and to the Impala. They pulled up to the motel room and headed inside.

"Lizzie!" Lori exclaimed, immediately drying herself off and jumping off the bed.

The two girls hugged each other tight, laughing.

"I can't believe you're here!" said Lori. "Are you okay?" She pulled back to see if her sister was hurt or anything.

"No, I'm fine," said Lizzie. "Dean was a real hero."

"Me?" said Dean. "What about you with that water cannon? You knocked them all out."

"I wouldn't have been there to do that if you hadn't come to Sam's rescue in the first place," said Lizzie.

"Okay, let's stop blowing smoke up one another's private places," said Bobby. "Let's just get these girls back home."

"Yeah, we've gotta get these boys cured," said Lizzie.

Lori and Bobby both looked at her. "_Boys_?"

"Yeah, uh, my bad," said Sam. "Dean kind of…got turned."

"He what?" said Bobby.

"It was an accident!" said Sam. "Honest!"

"Well, we can get you both cured," said Lizzie.

"Are you sure?" asked Lori, giving her a look.

"Yeah," said Lizzie, looking up at Sam. "Yeah, I'm sure. They have family business to take care of. They need the cure."

Lori nodded. "Alright. Let's get back home."

Dean sulked the entire car ride back to Myrtle Beach. Sam kept glancing at him from the passenger seat. Dean hadn't said a word in five hours.

"I didn't mean to, you know," said Sam.

"Don't," said Dean. "Don't say it."

"Come on, man," said Sam. "We're gonna get cured."

"_Maybe_, Sam," said Dean. "_Maybe_. Who knows if these Elder people even have a cure."

"Then we'll figure something out," said Sam.

"Oh, yeah, 'cause we've only been trying to do that for the past two weeks," said Dean.

"Then we'll just live with it," said Sam. "We can still hunt down Lillith and break your deal like this."

"And the second we spill holy water on us, we change," said Dean. "Or try to put down a line of salt and dry up. Oh, yeah, that'll really scare 'em."

Sam looked back at the road, shaking his head. Nothing he said was gonna get Dean to change his attitude. He opted for just sitting in the car the rest of the trip.

When they got back to the city, they dropped Lori and Lizzie off at the dock and headed back to the motel. Dean plopped down at the table, grabbing the laptop to pass the time.

"I'm gonna head to the bathroom, in case Lizzie and Lori get the cure," said Sam.

Dean nodded noncommittally at the table.

"Look, I know you don't want this whole merman thing, but if you don't get in the water before the end of the day, you're gonna dry out," Sam told him before heading to the bathroom.

Dean stared at the laptop as Sam closed the door, feeling a tickle in his throat. He got up from the chair and headed to the sink, filling a glass of water. He drained three or four of them before setting the glass down on the counter, staring at his hand. Glancing in the direction of the bathroom, Dean turned the faucet on and slipped his hand underneath it. The scales immediately appeared on the back of his hand.

"Huh," said Dean, turning the water off. He stared at the scales. "Interesting…"

"Whatcha doing?"

Dean spun around, shoving his hand into his back jeans pocket. "What?"

Sam stood in the entrance to the kitchen area, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Were you just looking to see what color scales you have?"

"No," said Dean, leaning against the counter. "I was getting a drink."

Sam smiled, stepping closer. "So, what color?"

"I don't know," said Dean. "I was getting a drink."

"Come on," said Sam. "Blue? Green? Black?"

"Sam, I told you, I don't know," said Dean, shoving his hand further into his pocket.

Sam's eyebrows rose. "Pink?"

"What?" said Dean. "Dude, no, they're not pink!"

"So you do know what color," said Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes. "They're red, okay? They're red."

Sam shrugged. "Cool."

"I thought you were waiting for news from the girls," said Dean, heading back to the laptop.

"I was," said Sam. "I came back for a book to read."

"Oh," said Dean. "Psychic talk not interesting enough for you?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Just go back to your porn." He walked back to the bathroom, closing the door.

Dean glared at the closed door. "It's not porn! It's research!"

"Right!" Sam called. "'Cause I totally believe that!"

Dean looked back at the laptop, closing down the window of the Busty Asian Beauties website. "It's not porn…"

Sam came out of the bathroom a half hour later. "So, the Elders say there is a cure."

"There is?" asked Dean.

"Problem is, the ritual can only be done during the spring equinox, which is in two days," said Sam.

Dean sighed. "So, we're stuck like this for two days."

"Looks like," said Sam. "So…I was gonna head down to the docks tonight. Wanna come with?"

"And get my swim on?" said Dean. "I don't think so."

"You're gonna have to get in the water anyway," said Sam. "Why not get some exercise out of it?"

"Dude, I'm not going," said Dean.

"Come on," said Sam. "It's more fun than it looks."

"I said I'm not going," said Dean. "Just because I'm stuck like this doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

"Come on, just this once," said Sam.

Dean glared at him.

"You'll never get a chance like this again," said Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes. "If I go this once, will you shut up about it?"

"Definitely," said Sam.

"Fine," muttered Dean.

"In that case, we're gonna have to work on something," said Sam.

"Oh, yeah?" said Dean. "What?"

"Hydrokinesis," said Sam.

"Oh, come on…" muttered Dean, getting to his feet and pacing.

"You're gonna need to dry yourself off afterward," said Sam. "I'm not carrying you."

Dean huffed in annoyance. "Fine."

Sam got a glass full of water and set it on the table. "Go ahead."

Dean rolled his eyes again and concentrated on the water. After a few seconds, nothing happened.

"Satisfied?" grumbled Dean. "I suck."

"You're not concentrating," said Sam. "You're just humoring me."

Dean sighed deeply and, feeling really ridiculous, raised his hand and concentrated. The water immediately exploded out of the glass, hitting the ceiling and falling back to the table. Sam and Dean's eyes were wide as they stared at the empty glass.

"See…" said Sam, shocked. "You're a natural…"

"Whoa…" said Dean, staring at his hand. "How the hell did I do that?"

"You're a merman, remember?" said Sam.

"Yeah, but, it took you a while to learn how to do that," said Dean. "How did I do that so easily?"

"You got me," said Sam. "You must have a knack for this sort of thing."

"Alright, we practiced," said Dean. "Can we drop it now? I'm hungry." He grabbed his jacket, heading out the door.

Sam smiled, shaking his head, and followed Dean out.

**********************************************************************SPN***************************************************************************

"Alright, what'd you order for me?" asked Dean, walking back to the table from the bathroom.

"Your usual," said Sam.

He'd made sure to tell the waitress not to put any salt on their food whatsoever.

"Good," said Dean. "So…we're headed to the dock tonight."

Sam looked up at him, frowning. "Yeah…"

"Right…" said Dean, glancing at Sam real quick. "Listen, uh…what's it like?"

"What?" asked Sam.

"The whole…tail and…breathing underwater thing…" said Dean. "What was it like the first time?"

"Uh…weird, at first," said Sam. "I mean, it's not something a human being usually does…but it got easier…almost natural. I guess that's part of the merman brain, you know, making it feel natural."

"Right," said Dean, nodding. "Right."

Sam frowned. "Something wrong?"

"No," said Dean. "No, it's just…I have a thing about…the ocean…"

Sam's eyes widened. "You're kidding. First planes, and now the ocean?"

"Hey, there are a lot of dangerous things in the ocean," said Dean. "Sharks, for one thing."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sharks, really?"

"Hey, sharks eat people," said Dean.

"In _Jaws_," said Sam. "They don't go after humans unless threatened. Besides, merpeople have a certain charm with animals. The fish and sharks and everything don't hurt them."

"Fine," said Dean.

The waitress brought their food over to their table. Dean grabbed the bottle of ketchup, putting some on his burger and plate. Sam dug into his salad. Dean tasted a fry and then grabbed the shaker of salt.

"Whoa, hey!" said Sam, grabbing Dean's arm about to pour some on his fries.

"What?" asked Dean, frowning.

"Salt, remember?" said Sam.

Dean shrunk a little in his seat. "Aw, man…" He put the salt down and went back to his meal.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

**Is it just me, or do Sam and Dean strip in this story a lot?**

Lizzie and Lori popped up from the water in the dock as Sam and Dean walked over to the edge that night.

"You ready?" asked Sam.

"Not really," Dean shrugged.

"Too bad," said Sam, taking off his jacket and tossing it under the bench nearby.

Dean rolled his eyes and took his own jacket off, storing it under the bench also. Dean turned back to see Sam diving into the water, rushing off into the harbor with Lizzie and Lori. Dean glanced around, groaning to himself.

"This is a bad idea…" muttered Dean.

He pulled his shirt and jeans off, kicking off his boots and storing them next to Sam's clothes. He looked down at the water warily, not really sure about the whole thing. Dean lowered himself to the ground, sitting on the edge of the dock with his legs tucked up against his chest. He slowly lowered one leg down towards the water and submerged it, watching as the foot transformed into half of a tail.

"Holy crap…" Dean muttered.

He glanced up at the harbor past the dock wall, seeing Sam, Lori and Lizzie jumping around and having fun.

"Here goes nothing…" said Dean.

He pushed off from the edge of the dock, jumping into the water. The feeling of his legs basically melting together and sprouting scales and the fins bursting from his arms shocked him for a moment. He also panicked a little as the water flooded his lungs before he felt his lungs drawing the oxygen from the water like they were supposed to. He looked around underwater, surprised to find out that he could see quite clearly. He could feel the fish part of his brain itching for a good swim.

Smirking, Dean dove down to the bottom of the water and rushed up towards the top, jumping high over the dock wall. He headed for the three others, finding them darting around in the water.

"_Finally,"_ Sam said. _"Did you get lost?"_

Dean glared at him. _"If I recall, your first time in the ocean wasn't so easy either."_

Lizzie giggled. _"Let's go!"_

She and Lori darted off for deeper water. Sam glanced over at Dean, looking him up and down. Dean's tail was a scarlet, almost a ruby; so were his fins. He still wore his amulet that Sam had given him.

"_Fish looks good on you,"_ Sam told him, smiling.

"_Yeah, well, what can I say?"_ said Dean, shrugging. _"I always look better than you."_

Sam laughed, rushing off after the girls. Dean followed him, laughing.

_This isn't half bad,_ Dean thought.

The three of them jumped around and swam all over, having a great time. Dean was kind of a natural in the water, for some reason. The merman lifestyle seemed to come second nature to him. When the dawn started to arrive, the four of them swam back to the dock. Sam pulled himself out of the water, drying himself off and pulling his clothes on.

"I'll get the car," said Sam, heading off towards the Impala.

Dean pulled himself up onto the edge of the dock, dragging his tail out also.

_I'm so glad Dad isn't here to see me like this…_ Dean thought.

He concentrated, and the water immediately rushed off of him and into the dock. He grabbed his pants, pulling them on as Sam pulled up. As Dean pulled the rest of his clothes on, he looked down at the two mermaids in the water.

"Sam'll be by tonight," Dean told them. "We'll see you guys later."

"Bye, Dean," said Lizzie. She looked towards the car. "See you later, Sam."

Sam nodded and waved as Dean headed to the car, climbing in. Sam drove away as Lori and Lizzie dove back into the harbor and out towards the ocean.

**************************************************************SPN***********************************************************************************

Sam leaned back on the headboard of the bed, boringly flipping through the channels of the TV. "And why can't we go anywhere again?"

"'Cause we're freaks of nature," said Dean.

"You say that like we haven't been freaks our whole lives," said Sam.

Dean looked at him. "We have?"

"Come on, Dean," said Sam. "We chase ghosts and demons, and I've got—" he stopped himself short, remembering he still hadn't told Dean that he had demon blood, "—psychic abilities, and you sold your soul. We've been freaks for as long as I can remember."

"Well, now we're bona fide freaks," said Dean. "We're staying in."

Sam rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Fine."

Dean frowned, stepping closer to Sam's bed. "Need I remind you that those bounty hunters are still out there. Anyone sees anything weird, and I guarantee you they **will** get wind of it. And we are **not** going through that hell again. So, until we can go for an actual **walk** in the rain, we stay put!"

"Okay, okay," said Sam, putting his hands up in defense. "Chill out."

"Oh, I'm chill," said Dean. "I am completely chill."

Sam glanced over at him. "Really? 'Cause you are the picture of calm."

"Well, wouldn't you be on edge, too?" said Dean. "Those hunters are who knows where. We should be taking care of them before they hurt anyone else. Not to mention that they could catch **us** any moment. Oh, and the small fact that we could get stuck like this for the rest of our lives!"

"Well, then, you better get used to it, I guess," smiled Sam.

"Very funny," said Dean. "I'm not getting used to anything."

"Dude, they have a cure," said Sam. "We'll be taking showers before you know it."

"Showers, huh?" said Dean, finally cracking a slight smile. "Always thought you were more of a bubble bath person."

Sam glared at him. "Yeah, well…" he reached for his glass of water, raising it to his mouth, "I know that you're a shower person." He flung his hand out, spraying Dean with the water.

Dean flung his arms up as the water splattered all over him. The fins sprouted from his arms, and the scales broke out on his hands. Sam put the empty glass back on the bedside table with a smile as Dean lowered his arms, glaring at Sam.

"Now that was uncalled for," Dean growled at Sam.

"I thought it was spot on," Sam smiled.

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam, smirking a little. Sam's smile faded a little as his instinct began screaming at him. Dean tilted his head a little, and a jet of water spewed from the bathroom faucet and hit Sam in the legs. Sam's pants tore as his tail transformed.

Sam glared up at Dean. "You didn't…"

Dean smirked at him. "Oh, I did."

Sam raised his arm, flinging it at Dean. Water flew from the bathroom and swept Dean off of his feet, transforming his legs also. Dean raised his arm from the floor, swiping it at Sam. Water hit Sam in his side, pushing him off of the bed. Sam moved the water under a few pillows, sending them towards Dean and hitting him in the face several times with them. Dean pushed them aside and made a small table fly up towards Sam. Sam stopped it with a jet of water, breaking it to pieces.

Sam made a shotgun float on some water as Dean made a piece of the table float on some water. They both started to make them fly towards one another when a door slammed. Both of them froze—making the water freeze in midair—and they both looked slowly towards room door. Bobby stood inside the closed door with crossed arms, staring at them.

"Really?" said Bobby.

Dean glanced over at Sam, who glanced back at him. The table piece and shotgun fell to the floor and the water soaked into the carpet as Sam and Dean both dropped their hands. Dean looked sheepishly up at Bobby.

"Just, uh…you know…" muttered Dean, "cabin fever…sibling rivalry…"

"Can you two maybe act as if you're **not **teenagers anymore?" said Bobby. "Clean this mess up." He headed over to the kitchen to grab a beer.

Sam and Dean dried themselves up quickly, pulling on new pants. They dried the carpet up, sweeping the water up and into the tub and storing the broken table in the corner.

"Don't let me walk in on something like that again, ya idjits," said Bobby, tossing them each a beer.

*******************************************************************SPN******************************************************************************************

Sam pulled up to the dock, getting out of the Impala. He headed to the dock and pulled his clothes off, diving in and heading out into the harbor. Lizzie was waiting for him in the harbor, smiling as he swam closer.

"_So, how's everything going?"_ asked Sam as they swam out into the ocean.

"_Great,"_ said Lizzie. _"The Elders are preparing for tomorrow night."_

Sam hesitated for a moment. _"Are you alright with this? Me going away, I mean."_

Lizzie looked over at him. _"Honestly…not completely. I mean…I know that you have work to do, and I can respect that. But I will miss you."_

Sam smiled at her. _"I'll miss you, too. It's been…interesting."_

"_Interesting, huh?"_ said Lizzie. _"Well, why don't we make it exciting."_

She took off away from Sam, diving through the water towards the bottom. Sam followed her, speeding ahead of her, and sped towards the surface, jumping high out from the surface. A ball of water collided with his head, making him tumble back into the water. Sam caught his bearings, looking around for the thrower. He was surprised to see Dean floating in the water, smirking at him. Sam frowned as he swam closer.

"_What, you thought I'd skip out on my last chance at kicking your ass down here?"_ said Dean.

"_Like you even could,"_ said Sam. _"I've had more practice."_

"_Yes, but I am, apparently, a natural,"_ said Dean.

"_A natural fish?"_ frowned Sam. _"I'm not sure that's a compliment, Dean."_

Dean rolled his eyes and rushed off into the ocean. Sam followed him as Lizzie joined them. Before long, they caught up with some dolphins and went swimming with them.

"_Hey, guys!"_ said Lori, swimming up to them.

"_Hey, Lori,"_ said Sam, running his hand along a dolphin's back as it swam away.

"_How's it going?"_ Dean asked her.

"_Pretty good,"_ said Lori. _"I got good news. The Elders think they can really pull it off."_

"_But they don't know for sure," _said Dean.

"_Well, they've never done it before,"_ said Lizzie.

"_They haven't?"_ asked Dean. _"So, we're a trial run? That's reassuring."_

"_Well, think about it," _said Lori. _"Anyone who ever got turned enjoyed the life. No one has ever __**wanted**__ to go back to human. You're the first ones…probably the only hunters to ever get turned."_

"_Well…" _shrugged Dean, _"I guess we don't have a choice."_

"_It'll be alright," _said Lizzie. _"I mean, the ritual wouldn't kill you or anything. If it doesn't work, the worst that would happen is you…don't get turned back."_

Sam glanced at Dean, who rolled his eyes. Sam looked back at the girls.

"_Well…we could make that work,"_ said Sam.

"_We could?"_ said Dean.

"_Yeah, we could,"_ said Sam.

"_We already had this discussion, Sam,"_ said Dean.

"_And we could work around all that,"_ said Sam.

"_If you say so…"_ muttered Dean.

Lori put a hand on Dean's shoulder. _"We'll try as hard as we can."_

Dean looked at her. _"Alright…but right now…"_

He darted off into the ocean as the three others followed him.

When the sun began to rise, Dean and Sam headed back into the dock, going back to human form. They began pulling on their clothes.

"You guys have to be back here just as the sun sets," said Lori. "It has to be done before midnight, and we have to do one at a time."

"We do?" asked Dean, latching his belt and grabbing his shirt. "Why can't we do both at the same time."

"Because you'll be human at the bottom of the ocean," said Lizzie. "And we'll have to pull you to the surface and back to shore for CPR."

"CPR?" asked Dean, pulling on his jacket. "Why can't you do that healing kiss thing?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"A kiss only heals illness or damaged tissue," said Lori. "It can't clear lungs of water. We'll need someone on shore to perform CPR, and we won't be able to change back in time."

"What about Bobby?" asked Sam, grabbing his jacket.

"That's good for one of you, but what about the other?" asked Lori. "We'll turn back one at a time. The other can wait on the dock for CPR."

"Fine," said Dean. "We'll see you this evening."

"Bye," said Lizzie.

Sam headed to the Impala as Dean got into Bobby's truck, driving back to the motel. Dean and Sam walked into the room, where Bobby was putting a bag together.

"What's the bag for, Bobby?" asked Dean, setting the keys to the truck down on the table.

"For tomorrow," said Bobby. "Cured or not, we're still hitting the road. I'm packing."

"You've got all day to pack," said Dean. "Let's get some breakfast."

The three of them headed back out the door to the Impala and headed to a diner. They ordered and were waiting for the food.

"So, we're heading to the dock at sunset?" asked Bobby.

"**We** are," said Dean. "Me and Sam will head down there and wait for each other. I don't want to attract any unwanted attention by extra people. Those guys may still be watching that dock."

"Alright," said Bobby. "I'll be nearby. Call if you need anything."

"Will do," said Sam.

**********************************************SPN***********************************************

Sam and Dean sat in silence as they drove down towards the dock.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh, my God, Sam. Yes, I'm sure! We are not staying this way!"

"No, no," said Sam quickly. "About this ritual thing. I mean, we could both drown."

Dean nodded a little. "Yeah, I know. But what choice do we have?"

Sam sighed as they pulled up to the dock and parked. They got out of the car and headed to the edge of the dock. Lizzie and Lori looked up at them in the twilight. Sam and Dean looked around to make sure no one was there before kneeling down on the dock.

"Everything ready?" asked Sam.

"Yes," said Lori. "Just waiting for you guys."

"Right," said Dean. "Sammy, wait here."

"What?" said Sam. "Who says you get to go first?"

"Says me," said Dean. "I am not letting you go first when we don't know what will happen. I'll be the guinea pig."

"Dean—" said Sam.

"Sam," Dean warned. "I'm going. You're staying here." He stood up and began stripping down to his boxers.

Sam sighed and sat down on the bench while Dean stored his clothes under it. Dean dived into the water as Lizzie and Lori jumped over the wall and into the harbor. Dean surfaced and looked back at Sam.

"I'll see you later," said Dean before he jumped over the wall and headed into the ocean, leaving Sam to wait at the dock.

*******************************************************************SPN**********************************************************************************************

Sam glanced at his watch again, his leg jumping up and down. It had been an hour and a half since Dean and the girls had left. The time was beginning to grow short on the ritual. It could only be performed before midnight, and it was eight o'clock. Who knew how long the ritual itself would take. More importantly, Sam was starting to worry about Dean. How does he know that Dean is alright?

_What was that?_ Sam thought.

He looked up at the harbor beyond the wall to see something speeding towards the dock on the surface of the water. Sam stood up, squinting through the darkness to see what it was. As it drew closer, Sam stepped up to the edge of the dock. The next second, Lori jumped over the wall, carrying an unconscious Dean.

"Dean!" Sam called, kneeling quickly down at the edge of the water.

Lori sped over to the dock, making sure Dean's head stayed above water. Sam leaned down, grabbing Dean under the shoulders and dragging him up onto the dock. Sam leaned down and listened for any breath. There was nothing there, so Sam tilted Dean's head back, pinching his nose and pulling his jaw open.

Sam leaned down and gave two deep breaths. He sat back up, moving his hands to Dean's chest just above the heart. He compressed Dean's heart fifteen times before moving back to give two more breaths. That's how it went for the next twenty seconds or so: fifteen compressions and two breaths, one after another.

"Come on, Dean," said Sam as he compressed. "Breathe, dammit. Breathe!"

Dean coughed, choking up a lungful of water. Sam leaned back on his heels, sighing in relief. Dean sat up, spitting the water out.

"Oh, thank God…" breathed Sam.

"That was unpleasant," said Dean. "Mind giving me some clothes?"

Sam looked down to see that Dean was soaked…and still had legs. "It worked!"

"Yeah, genius," said Dean. "Now give me my damn pants."

Sam grabbed the pants from the bench and chucked them at Dean, who quickly pulled them on. Dean pulled his shirt on, wiping the water from his hair and face.

"Alright," said Dean, smiling up at Sam. "Your turn."

Sam rolled his eyes, taking his clothes off and dropping them on the bench. He dove into the water and sped off after Lori's form.

"_Where's Lizzie?"_ asked Sam.

"_Waiting for us back with the Elders,"_ said Lori. _"And, uh…this is not going to be easy."_

"_Yeah, I figured,"_ said Sam.

They swam down towards the town, heading towards the Edlers' dome. When they entered the dome, the Elders and Lizzie were waiting around what looked like an altar.

"_Hello, Sam,"_ said William. _"It is good to see you again."_

"_You, too,"_ said Sam. _"Is, uh…Is everything ready?"_

"_Yes,"_ said William. _"Are you?"_

"_I guess,"_ shrugged Sam.

"_Lie down,"_ said William, gesturing to the stone table.

Sam edged forward, lying down on the altar. Lizzie swam over and floated beside him as the Elders swam back and forth. Sam looked at Lizzie and held a hand out.

Lizzie grabbed hold of Sam's hand, smiling at him. _"I'll miss you."_

Sam smiled back at her. _"I'll miss you, too."_

Lizzie gently let go of his hand and stayed close to the altar. William swam forward, laying a hand over Sam's heart.

"_This will feel…a little weird,"_ said William, placing a hand over Sam's forehead.

Sam nodded as he breathed slowly and evenly, trying to remain calm. William and the other Elders began speaking some language Sam had never heard. It was probably a language the merpeople invented in the beginning. William's grip on his chest tightened slightly as Sam took a deep breath to steady himself.

Sam frowned as he began to get light-headed. He tried to take a deeper breath, but was stunned when the water flowing into his lungs offered no oxygen whatsoever. He began to struggle on the table, desperately needing air. William pushed down against his chest and head, forcing him to stay still. Sam struggled strongly until the Elders grabbed hold of his tail and arms, holding him still. Sam tried to hold his breath, but his brain screamed at him to inhale. He gulped down a lungful of water and blacked out.

**********************************************************************************************SPN**************************************************************************************************************

Dean sat on the bench, wringing his hands. He stared into the harbor, waiting for the appearance of a mermaid. At long last, something jumped up from the middle of the harbor, propelled by a jet of water. Dean jumped up from the bench, rushing over to the edge of the dock. Lizzie launched over the wall and into the dock, speeding over towards the dock.

Dean knelt on the dock and reached down as Lizzie lifted Sam as much as she could. Dean grabbed hold of Sam's arms and lifted him up onto the dock. Dean leaned over him, listening for breath. He tilted Sam's head back and began the routine of two breaths and fifteen compressions. After half a minute, Sam's lips were beginning to turn blue, and his skin was paling.

"Come on, Sammy!" Dean yelled. "Breathe!"

Dean was beginning to grow desperate as Sam still hadn't taken a breath after a full minute.

"Sam!" Dean cried, his compressions growing more forceful. "Breathe, dammit, breathe!"

Lizzie clamped a hand to her mouth as tears began to fall down her face.

Dean gave two more breaths before going back to compressions. "Don't you give up on me, Sammy!"

After the compressions, Dean leaned down to give breaths. As he gave the second one, Sam convulsed as he coughed. Dean jumped back as Sam spat out water, grabbing at his throat.

"Sammy!" said Dean. "You okay?"

Sam nodded as he took big gulps of air, his chest heaving.

"Dammit, don't scare me like that!" Dean yelled, whacking Sam on the shoulder.

Sam coughed as he sat up. "Sorry to…" he took a big breath, "give you a…heart attack. I was only drowning."

"Not funny, Sam," said Dean, grabbing the pants and handing them to Sam.

Sam pulled them on quickly, looking at Lizzie. She was smiling sadly up at Sam. Sam scooted over to the edge of the dock as Lizzie pulled herself up towards him.

"So…" said Sam. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah…" said Lizzie.

"I, uh…I'll see you around," said Sam.

Lizzie smiled at him. "No, you won't."

Sam shrugged. "You never know. I might visit…someday."

Lizzie smiled. "I won't hold my breath, but…maybe." She leaned up and gave him a kiss.

Sam watched as she swam to the wall and jumped over it. Lizzie propped her arms on the wall, waving at Sam. Sam waved back at her, smiling.

Dean rolled his eyes, grabbing Sam's arm. "Come on, Romeo."

He pulled Sam to his feet, grabbing the rest of the clothes and dragging him to the Impala. Sam climbed into the passenger seat, watching Lizzie swimming away in the harbor as Dean drove away.

"By the way…" said Dean, "guess what year it is."

Sam frowned, looking at him. "2008…Doesn't everyone know that?"

"Yep, 2008," said Dean, looking at Sam and smirking. "Leap year."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Dean…"

"We're headed to Wisconsin!" said Dean.

"The Morton House?" said Sam. "Really?"

"Hey, only haunted once every four years, man," said Dean. "This is my only chance."

"Yeah, about that," said Sam. "We are finding a way to get you out of that deal."

"Hell, yeah," said Dean, hitting the gas.

THE END


End file.
